“Move.”
“I cannot do that.”
“Move.”
“This is your final warning. This space is a facility exclusively for Ghostcatchers. Withdraw.”
The entrance leading to the Underground Great Hall.
A woman with short hair was arguing with the guards blocking her.
“What? Final warning?”
“…….”
“You trash bastards guarding an insect nest, how dare you…….”
Fwoosh.
Flame-type mana began to materialize around the woman.
At the same time, her pupils glowed red.
[Situation occurring at the entrance.]
The two guards who had sent the transmission activated the cyberware embedded in their bodies and prepared for combat.
“I’ll say it one last time. Move.”
“If you turn back even now, we can pretend nothing happened—”
Kwaaaang……!
With a thunderous roar, a massive explosion erupted.
An explosion caused by compressing flame mana into a single point.
Pure destructive power.
However, the opponents were physical guards specialized in protecting something.
Moreover, they were stationed to guard the Underground Great Hall.
Even as tremendous flames spread outward, the guards suffered no damage at all, their clothes only slightly singed.
“You endured that? Then endure this too.”
This time, she made one eye glow green.
The guards’ expressions changed as they realized what that meant.
[A Toxic-type mana manifestor.]
Hissssss…….
A lethal toxic fog that no living being could endure.
Dense green smoke began to slowly spread.
When that ominous presence reached the guards’ feet, the man on the left suddenly went into convulsions.
“Guh—gk……!”
“……!”
“Still not moving?”
As the guard foamed at the mouth and collapsed to the ground—
A hand shot out from the entrance of the Underground Great Hall and grabbed him.
“That’s enough.”
Whoooosh……!
A wind blowing from somewhere scattered the toxic fog completely.
Then, as fingers emerging from the darkness tapped the convulsing guard’s acupoints lightly, the man grew calm, as if falling asleep.
“L, Lady Isabel……!”
Walking out step by step under the light of the streetlamp was Madam Isabel.
She spoke to the short-haired woman with a cold expression.
“Ms. Kim Rua.”
“You know me?”
“Of course. A member of the Cheonrang Group, an ace among aces who rose at lightning speed to a Grade 4 agent thanks to outstanding talent.”
“Then this will be quick.”
Kim Rua said as her eyes glowed red again.
“Drag that bastard Diesel in front of me. Right now.”
But Isabel replied without changing her expression.
“That cannot be done.”
“What?”
“It seems Agent Kim Rua has not been active here for long yet, so you do not understand the ecology of the backstreets. That is why I advise you to stop here and go back.”
“What is this bitch even saying?”
“This is not for our sake. It is for yours.”
“You really won’t listen unless it’s by force—”
She muttered as she began to release mana—
Then stopped moving after noticing something that appeared behind the madam.
“……?”
Something writhed.
Within the pitch-black darkness leading underground.
“I do not repeat myself.”
She could not see clearly what it was.
But Kim Rua realized instinctively.
Death.
That thing was death.
The end that all mortals would face.
The final abyss that devoured everything.
Soon, the unknown existence Kim Rua had noticed—
Looked at her.
“Ah, ah…….”
Her legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground.
Her body trembled uncontrollably under the overwhelming fear that engulfed her entire being.
At that moment, someone appeared behind Kim Rua and hurriedly covered her eyes.
“Madam Isabel.”
A fellow Mega Corp agent like her, Canton Miller.
He quickly injected a sedative into the half-dazed Kim Rua.
“That was a bit excessive.”
“Then you should have come a little earlier.”
“…….”
“I thought Cheonrang handled agent training more thoroughly.”
“Even so, variables like this tend to pop up from time to time.”
Isabel gestured wordlessly into the air.
An enormous amount of mana spread around, and the destroyed alley began to restore itself to its original state.
‘The Dark Oni of the Underground Great Hall…….’
Miller muttered her alias.
A madam who wielded fear within the darkness.
One of the reasons the Underground Great Hall could remain an absolute zone even in a world ruled by megacorporations.
Turning her body, Isabel muttered.
“I hope you have not forgotten the rules.”
The rules upheld between corporations and the backstreets.
That one—never touching a Ghostcatcher whose job had already been completed.
The Dark Oni left a single sentence behind and then vanished into the darkness.
A few days later, the breakfast buffet at Hwayang Hotel.
Betty Barosi stood holding a plate, waiting in front of So Ryeo-jin, who was stir-frying shrimp.
“Waa……! This is amazing today! Ryeo-jin unni. Can I take all of this?”
“Of course.”
“Hey! Diesel! Do you like shrimp?”
“…….”
“Oh, Yubin. What’s that?”
“Cold soba.”
“They had something like that?”
“It was over there at the dessert corner.”
“Diesel! Want me to bring you some cold soba too?”
Diesel, who was sitting at the table, paid no attention to Betty’s shouting from afar and blankly stuffed a sausage into his mouth.
‘How did it end up like this?’
Right now, he was still staying in Room 2046.
After changing the twin beds into a queen-size bed.
The problem was that Betty was staying in Room 2047 right next door, and Kang Da-hee was staying in Room 2045.
“Hey! What kind of diet is this supposed to be! It’s all meat…….”
“For the health of your mana core, it would be better to consume a variety of nutrients.”
Betty and Kang Da-hee, seated on either side of Diesel, began nagging him.
‘I should have listened to Boss Kim back then.’
Not long ago, Boss Kim, who had helped dispose of Diesel and Kang Da-hee’s apartment, had asked whether he wanted to move to a new place.
‘He even said he’d help…….’
However, no matter how much help one got, moving still took quite a bit of energy, so Diesel had answered that he would stay at a hotel for the time being. Now he was regretting not moving back then.
‘I never thought we’d even end up doing magic training together.’
The matrix owned by Kang Da-hee had finished being upgraded by Sis.
Being able to continue using that space was certainly good news, but he had never expected Betty to get involved as well.
“You practiced the formula I taught you properly, right? I’m checking later.”
“Today, Mr. Diesel has a schedule with me. We’re learning how to interpret defensive systems.”
“Interpretation of defensive systems? I was curious about that too. Can’t I join? Hey. Eat some of this too.”
Betty casually dumped a fresh lettuce salad onto Diesel’s plate.
At that, Ar, who had been nestled in Diesel’s arms, fluttered over.
“Ar! Come here. I’ll give you Jjiru.”
〈I am fine.〉
“Come on, you came out because you wanted it. You think I wouldn’t notice?”
Diesel’s only companion, Ar, was receiving an abundance of affection from Betty and Kang Da-hee.
In particular, Ar really liked the Lightning-type mana that Betty gave off, and perhaps because of that, whenever there was a chance like this, Ar would sit on Betty’s lap and munch on Jjiru.
“Ar, did you finish the novel I told you about?”
〈The Dimension Library of Block 73? Yes. It was interesting.〉
“Right? It’s fun, isn’t it? Your master doesn’t even know that kind of fun. Poor thing.”
“…….”
“So, Ar, who are you rooting for?”
〈Rooting for whom?〉
“The heroine. Lily Cooper, or Yubin Roji?”
Betty smiled brightly and crackled out Jjiru with a zap.
“Betty. Isn’t it a bit cheap to ask like that while blatantly bribing?”
“Then use Lightning-type magic yourself.”
“Ar won’t fall for that kind of temptation. Right, Ar?”
“So, who is it?”
〈Hmm…….〉
Ar hesitated slightly, then answered.
〈Do I really have to choose just one?〉
“What?”
〈I was wondering if there isn’t an option where I choose all of them instead of just one.〉
“……You’re saying you’ll take both……?”
〈No. All of them. There are characters other than just those two in the Dimension Library of Block 73, after all.〉
At that answer, Betty and Kang Da-hee’s faces stiffened.
“Ar……! What are you even saying……!”
“That’s a bold choice. Can you handle it?”
At their reactions, Ar tilted his head with an innocent expression.
“Diesel! You taught him something weird, didn’t you! Our Ar would never do that!”
“What are you talking about.”
If only those two had intruded into Diesel’s daily life, it might have been barely manageable.
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
“Diesel niiim…….”
“Oh, Herja. You’re awake?”
“Herja! When did you wake up?”
The issue was that even the Valkyrie he had met during the previous job was staying at this hotel.
“Herja was…… hungry, so I woke uuuup…….”
“You should’ve called! Then unni would’ve come to get you.”
“Come on, let’s go eat.”
The small Valkyrie took Kang Da-hee’s outstretched hand and toddled off toward the buffet.
Diesel recalled what had happened just the other day.
When he went outside in response to a bell ringing in the middle of the night, Chae Seol-ah was standing there out of nowhere, holding the sleeping Herja.
I really don’t want to, even if it kills me…….
Muttering that, Chae Seol-ah abruptly handed the Valkyrie over to Diesel and glared at him sharply for quite a while.
So what do you want me to do.
It’s a request from River. She said the power this child has would be more positive when she’s with you than with herself.
He didn’t really understand what that meant, but if he refused, it felt like Chae Seol-ah would draw her sword on the spot, so he accepted for the time being.
Be careful of those called ‘Abyssal Flame’. If Herja gets even slightly hurt…….
Then you keep taking care of her yourselves.
Herja needs you.
No, my opinion is—.
I’ll be watching, so you’d better behave properly.
Leaving behind that grim warning, the elf shaman left on her own terms.
And just like that, he somehow ended up in a situation where he had to take care of a child.
A suspicious Valkyrie whose mental state he couldn’t even gauge.
At least one saving grace was that Herja would alternate staying in Betty’s and Kang Da-hee’s rooms instead of Diesel’s.
After hearing the young Valkyrie’s circumstances, the two unnis had pitied Herja and, in just one day, grown as close as real sisters.
‘I need to get out of here immediately.’
Diesel couldn’t properly process the string of sudden events.
He had always been the kind of person who found these sorts of personal relationships rather uncomfortable.
When Diesel stood up from his seat, Ar, who had been eating Jjiru, flew back and slipped into his master’s arms.
“What, leaving already?”
“Yeah.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve got something to do.”
What Diesel needed right now was something else he could immerse himself in.
Taking on a job would have been best, but Boss Kim had declared he would be taking a break for the time being, River was hard to get in touch with, and the half-android Alfred Han had politely declined, saying he had no suitable work for Diesel.
Madam had said she would give him something soon, but there was no telling when that would be.
So, since things had turned out this way, Diesel decided to focus on figuring out the new abilities Ar had gained.
‘Sis said there was no need to explain it anyway.’
“Don’t be late later!”
He waved roughly at Betty as she shouted at him and headed toward the elevator.
“Wow……. I knew Ar was unusual, but this is…….”
The White Floor of the Underground Great Hall.
Sis muttered with a shocked expression as she examined Ar.
“A spirit that handles an Electrosphere Wraith……. I’ve never even heard of such a thing.”