“Damn it. It broke again. If the original’s blown, that’s the end of it. What more do they expect me to pull out of the recovery logs?”
The employee sighed and put his hands back on the keyboard.
[S-00403 Success Rate: 7—%]
[FAIL / FAIL / FAIL]
But along with the red warning window that appeared on the screen, the file’s data twisted beyond recognition, and completely corrupted, indecipherable characters chaotically flooded the monitor. No matter how many times he clicked again, only the hourglass beside the mouse cursor spun indifferently, with no sign that the folder would open.
The employee modified the commands over and over, trying to open the folder again, but the result was the same.
[S-00403 / ACCESS NODE]
“Got it.”
After numerous attempts, he finally succeeded. The employee moved the cursor over it and clicked, and the words [LOADING…] appeared.
SUCCESS RATE 78% (THEORETICAL ONLY)
FINAL RESULT: FAILED EXPERIMENT
“So all that’s left are the recovery logs.”
A sneer formed on the employee’s lips as he stared at the screen.
“……There was one that made it all the way to 78%. Not that it matters. The result was still a failure.”
He moved the cursor a few times and opened the folder.
“Wow, would you look at this. They wanted it recovered so they could use it for another experiment. They really do make use of every last scrap.”
As he continued checking the contents of the folder, the employee irritably grabbed at his own hair.
“It won’t recover! What the hell do they expect me to do about it?!”
Creak!
At that moment, Juwon, unable to endure the cramped space inside the cabinet beside him any longer, made the faintest sound.
The employee’s hands froze over the keyboard. His head slowly turned toward the cabinet where the sound had come from.
“…Is someone there?”
The employee rose from his chair and took a step toward the cabinet.
His footsteps came right up to them. It was only a matter of time before they were discovered.
“……Juwon, come out.”
No sooner had Yihyun’s low command fallen than the cabinet door burst open as if it had exploded, and Juwon, who had been folded into the cramped space, sprang out like a coiled spring.
“Aaagh!”
The employee screamed and fell backward. At some point, a glossy black diamond sword had appeared in Juwon’s hand. He pressed it against the employee’s throat. It was positioned at such a precise and deadly distance that the slightest movement would sever his carotid artery.
“Don’t move. Scream, and I’ll make your head say goodbye to your body on the spot.”
At Juwon’s chilling threat, the employee hurriedly clamped his mouth shut. Yihyun then stepped elegantly out of the cabinet, brushing off his clothes.
“Baek… Yihyun, the Guide…? How did you get in here…?”
The employee’s face instantly went pale. There was no one inside the research institute who didn’t know that name.
“Juwon, kill him if he moves.”
“Don’t worry, hyung. If he so much as twitches a finger, I’ll slit his throat immediately.”
The employee shuddered at the sight of Yihyun, with his delicate appearance, discussing a person’s life so casually.
Without even sparing the employee a glance, Yihyun walked over to the monitor. [S-00403 / ACCESS NODE] was displayed on the screen. However, most of the crucial data had been deleted, with the word [Deleted] written across it in red.
“These experiment lists. What was in the deleted sections? Talk.”
“……I-I really don’t know!”
“Liar.”
At Yihyun’s word, Juwon’s sword pressed deeper. Red droplets of blood trickled down the thin cut forming across his neck, and the employee recoiled in terror.
“I really don’t know! I’m only in charge of data recovery!”
“I heard you talking to yourself while looking at this.”
The employee squeezed his eyes shut, avoiding Yihyun’s gaze. His lips trembled for a moment before he hesitated, sighed, and finally spoke.
“……When Han Taeyun wiped out the entire server five years ago, everything was lost. I was only working on it because I was ordered to recover the data.”
“Why are you recovering it?”
“We need it as reference for an experiment currently underway. The higher-ups are trying to restore the old records.”
Without taking his eyes off the screen, Yihyun asked quietly,
“What’s this other experiment they’re trying to continue by going so far as to restore the logs?”
“I don’t know that much either. I’m on the recovery team, and I don’t have the authority to access the current research process. All I know is that the research being conducted now was newly set up after that!”
Even at the researcher’s desperate cry, Yihyun merely glared at the [Deleted] labels on the screen as though he wanted to chew them to pieces. He plugged a cloning terminal into the main server and muttered in a low voice,
“Juwon, knock this bastard out for now. Then let’s scrape together every bit of data that’s been recovered.”
Only one piece of the puzzle had finally fallen into place.
Yihyun was about to sit the unconscious researcher in the chair and tie him up with rope when he noticed a small device strapped around the man’s wrist.
“Hey, Juwon. Look at this. We’re screwed.”
Yihyun lifted the researcher’s wrist to show him the watch-shaped device. It was a biometric-linked communication device that automatically sent an alert to the security room if the researcher’s heart rate dropped below a certain level or if he lost consciousness within a designated area. Juwon clicked his tongue as he looked at the screen glowing red and requesting authentication.
“The signal’s probably already gone through. It’s only a matter of time before the security team storms in.”
Yihyun hurriedly checked the copying progress displayed on the server monitor.
[Data Copying… 14%]
“Hyung, it’ll take forever to get all of this! What do we do? Should I hold them off outside?”
Yihyun fell into thought for a moment. 14%… The most important logs from five years ago were still shrouded in fog. But if they were caught here, it was all over. Yihyun decisively yanked out the cloning terminal.
“No, let’s just get out. Everything here is nothing but deleted scraps anyway. If we find Han Taeyun, the guy who blew up the original server, he should know what happened.”
“……What? Hyung, what did you just say? You’re going to find Han Taeyun yourself?”
Juwon freaked out and blocked Yihyun’s path. Yihyun’s hands, which had been preparing to leave, stopped dead.
“Absolutely not! It’d be better to beg the Director to throw you in prison than go to DUST. Hyung, you’re Baek Seungho’s son right now, so why do you keep acting like this? I’m absolutely not letting you go!”
“Shut the fuck up, you bastard. Getting out of here comes first. Let’s go!”
Yihyun shoved Juwon in the back and pushed him out into the corridor. The two hurried toward the private elevator they had used to come down. But no matter how many times they held the gold keycard against the reader, the elevator remained completely unresponsive. Only the red words [SYSTEM LOCKED] flashed on the display.
“They’ve already blocked it. Baek Seungho sure works fast, I’ll give him that.”
Yihyun clicked his tongue and scanned their surroundings. They were in a server room deep underground. With no stairs down here, the elevator being disabled meant they were completely isolated.
At that moment, Juwon placed both hands against the elevator doors.
“Hyung, move aside. You didn’t forget I’m an Esper who controls metal, did you?”
Mana waves began surging from Juwon’s entire body. Beneath his fingertips, the massive special-alloy doors began crumpling like sheets of paper.
Crunnnch—!
With the ear-scraping shriek of warping metal, the tightly sealed doors were forcibly pried apart. Beyond them was a dark vertical shaft stretching upward.
“Looks like you’ll have to do some climbing, hyung. Hold on tight to me.”
Juwon prepared to manipulate the metal rails along the shaft wall into footholds. Climbing all the way up this height with a Guide’s frail body would have been impossible, but with Juwon here, it was a different story. Yihyun grabbed Juwon’s sturdy shoulder and looked upward.
Thud.
Every time Juwon leaped from one makeshift foothold he had created by manipulating the metal rails to the next, Yihyun felt his body float into the air before the impact of landing jolted through him.
“Hyung, we’re going to have company soon.”
“Juwon, if things go south, use me as a shield. Those bastards can’t kill me.”
“How could I possibly use you as a shield, hyung?”
“Just do what I tell you.”
Juwon’s prediction was not wrong. Far above their heads came the chilling sound of the elevator shaft doors opening, followed by beams of white flashlight light pouring down.
“Intruders confirmed in the underground server room! Capture Baek Yihyun alive. Aim for Lee Juwon. Fire!”
Bang, bang, bang—!
Gunshots thundered through the narrow shaft. Yihyun’s eyes widened when he saw the bullets embedded in the wall.
They were ability-suppression rounds designed to subdue rampaging Espers. Even though Juwon was S-Rank, taking more than a few hits would drastically impair his ability to control his mana.
“Those fucking bastards. Do they have any idea who they’re messing with?!”
Juwon gritted his teeth and tore a massive alloy rail straight from the wall with brute force.
Craaaash!
He raised the torn rail over his head, and the hail of bullets slammed into the thick metal plate with deafening clangs. Still holding it above them, Juwon thrust his free hand into the air. Yihyun wrapped his arms around Juwon’s neck and clung to his back.
“You’re all fucking dead!”
The metal fragments floating through the air instantly gathered together, taking the form of razor-sharp swords. With a flick of Juwon’s hand, dozens of metal blades shot upward toward the security agents.