By Zephyria “Someone intentionally erased that friend’s record. Very cleanly. As if he never existed at all.”
Someone erased the record. But who, and for what reason? What was so special about that kid?
Eui-jae stared blankly at the pen that had pointed at him. Min-gi Seo retracted his arm and muttered with his arms crossed.
“But there’s definitely something fishy about this. The information is so clean, so empty, that it makes you wonder if it was really necessary to erase it so thoroughly. There are very few people or organizations capable of such large-scale information manipulation. Besides, isn’t he the kid J personally entrusted? I wouldn’t dare touch him, even if I were scared to death.”
Min-gi Seo shuddered. Eui-jae listened to his sincere jesting with one ear and let it out the other. Because there was a word that bothered him like a hangnail more than that. People or organizations capable of large-scale information manipulation.
After pondering for a moment, Eui-jae crossed his arms and asked.
“As Min-gi Seo said, what kind of people or organizations are capable of large-scale information manipulation?”
“Oh, please wait a moment.”
Min-gi Seo turned on the tablet screen and muttered.
“To clean it up so neatly with this kind of skill… at least the Awakened Management Bureau or the top 3 Guilds would have to try to compete. As for individuals, there’s Mackerel… Yes, I’ll summarize it for you. Just a moment.”
Awakened Management Bureau, the top 3 Guilds of Korea, Mackerel let’s go.
Eui-jae frowned at the name of the familiar seafood that suddenly popped out. This isn’t Noryangjin Fish Market, why is Mackerel suddenly coming out here?
However, his bewildered face gradually turned to astonishment. It was because the conversation the Hunters had during the Mana Stone incident suddenly came to mind.
“I’m going to Noryangjin Fish Market today to ask Mackerel for a favor.”
“Do you think Mackerel can find it?”
“If he can’t find it, he’ll have to give up his title as the best information broker in Korea, what else.”
Don’t tell me Mackerel was a person’s name…. Eui-jae rubbed his forehead for the sin of learning information he didn’t want to know.
Is it a trend among Hunters these days to give themselves strange Hunter names? But only for a moment, he calmed down a little as he looked at Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo, who was still writing something with a serious face.
Yeah, there are Hunter names like that, so Mackerel is fine. At least it’s a noun.
Just in time, Min-gi Seo raised his head.
“I feel a little strange, but did you say something just now, customer?”
‘You quick-witted crazy brat.’
“No.”
“I see. Well, I guess the Guild Master must have been cursing me out. Then I’ll tell you.”
Eui-jae nodded. Min-gi Seo handed over the tablet. The familiar red Gothic title greeted him as if he had made it in the meantime.
‘Simplified version of power organization’
There was no other content besides the title. I thought he was going to give me even a summary. While Eui-jae was having a soulless staring contest with the Gothic font, Min-gi Seo, who had straightened his posture, pushed up his sunglasses.
“As I mentioned earlier, there are very few places that can manipulate information so cleanly. Especially if the location is the Hunter National Hospital. The Awakened Management Bureau directly intervened, or the top 3 Guilds in Korea, Wave, Samra, and Seowon, and if we add HB Guild, they can barely try to touch it.”
Min-gi Seo flapped his hand, gesturing for him to turn the screen. When he turned the screen to the side, a lively blue-backed fish, a picture of Mackerel, popped out.
“Since the organization is like this, there are far fewer individuals. There is no one other than Mackerel, the number one information broker in Korea. He’s based in Noryangjin Fish Market, and the information he sells is quite useful. But!”
Min-gi Seo, who had interrupted his words, gestured again. Once again, when the screen was turned, a strange animation and a picture of a wad of money were added, spinning around next to Mackerel wearing sunglasses.
“His principle of action is ‘only do things that make money’… so he wouldn’t have jumped into information manipulation that doesn’t make money. Even if Mackerel did it, it means that someone was definitely behind it.”
“……”
Eui-jae clenched his fist. His heart began to beat wildly. Min-gi Seo’s businesslike voice, which continued to brief, echoed in his ears.
“Besides, at that time, Awakened research had not progressed much, so if there was someone with relatively unique characteristics, they would have taken him and used him as a test subject. There is also the possibility that they were instigated by that side.”
“Unique characteristics?”
“Yes. People who have been caught in a Rift, or who have scars from being attacked by Monsters. Even if not, anything special related to the Rift. To put it bluntly, it was almost an anarchic state, so it wouldn’t have been difficult to kidnap someone for experimentation.”
His mouth was parched. He hoped it wasn’t true, but a sharp instinct was whispering. Don’t miss this opportunity. Eui-jae slowly opened his mouth.
“What are the chances that Prometheus took him?”
In an instant, Min-gi Seo’s body, which had been shaking his pen busily, froze. He turned his stiff head and looked at Eui-jae. The eyes behind the sunglasses were filled with astonishment.
“Customer, what did you just say….”
Eui-jae met his dark eyes and said again as if spitting it out.
“Prometheus.”
“W-wait a minute. How do you know about Prometheus? That’s top secret. Didn’t you only hear about drugs from the Guild Master?”
“Answer the question first.”
Min-gi Seo, who met Eui-jae’s cold eyes, shut his mouth tightly. He frowned and muttered something to himself, then finally opened his mouth.
“I don’t know how you know the name Prometheus, but there’s a reason why I didn’t tell you directly. If you think the culprit is that side… the conclusion becomes simple.”
“……”
“That kid is dead. Definitely.”
His breath stopped for a moment. Eui-jae raised his fist near his heart and took a deep breath. Min-gi Seo pressed his temples with his thumb and forefinger and continued.
“What I’m about to tell you is top secret. I’m telling you because you’re a customer.”
“……”
“There are three major organizations in Korea that are tracking Prometheus.”
Min-gi Seo spread out three fingers.
“The Awakened Management Bureau, Wave Guild, and Seowon Guild. These three are constantly cooperating to monitor the flow of drugs and chase Prometheus. Of course… after J appeared, the Management Bureau temporarily let go. They were more urgent to find J.”
“……”
“Well, we also took a break for a while and recently started again… anyway, I’ve done quite a bit of research on Prometheus. That’s why I’m telling you.”
Min-gi Seo adjusted his sunglasses and continued.
“Those guys also spread drugs and conduct experiments to artificially create Awakened… but there hasn’t been a single successful case. According to what is known, all the test subjects died.”
Min-gi Seo’s sunglasses flashed.
“Until now, all of them.”
The Guild Master’s office of Wave Guild was dark without a single ray of light even in the middle of the day. In the middle of it, there was a figure lying on a long sofa as if drooping. He quietly inhaled and exhaled with his eyes covered with a black eye patch and his hands clasped over his stomach.
Thud, thud, thud…. Footsteps gradually approached from afar. The owner of those distinct, unwavering footsteps was only one person.
Bang, the door opened.
“Hey, Guild Master! I got a call from Team Leader Jung-bin.”
Instead of answering with words, Lee Sa-young raised his hand and signaled to close the door. Bae Won-woo, who closed the door and entered the dark Guild Master’s office, looked at Sa-young’s head with concern.
“What, is your eye acting up again? Does it hurt a lot?”
“No.”
“Did you take your medicine? Should I contact Nam Woo-jin?”
“I don’t need it, so report first.”
“Geez… okay.”
Bae Won-woo, who grumbled briefly, turned on the tablet screen he was holding under his arm.
“Uh… first of all, he said thank you for rescuing Hong Ye-seong thanks to you. He was in the underground detention room. And….”
Bae Won-woo, who was reading the contact information, made a small gasp.
“What, the Dummy wore the skin of a subordinate?”
“…What?”
Sa-young, who had been listening quietly, raised one side of the eye patch with his thumb. Only the tablet screen and Bae Won-woo’s face, which received the light from the screen, were eerily shining in the darkness. Bae Won-woo stammered as if embarrassed.
“N-no, it’s really written like that? A subordinate was standing guard at the detention room door and attacked with black thorns…. After suppressing him, he requested an analysis from Seowon Guild, and the contents were not him.”
“……”
“The shell… is him.”
A heavy silence flowed. Sa-young, who sighed briefly, smoothly raised the eye patch to his forehead. Then, when he reached out his hand, Bae Won-woo naturally handed over the tablet. Sa-young, who quickly scanned the contents, twisted his lips.
“Looks like he’s been working hard while I took my eyes off him for a moment….”
“Hey…. Does this make sense? Then are those employees already dead?”
“They would have been. Because the shell was peeled off.”
Sa-young replied coldly and sat up. Bae Won-woo spat out rough curses. The last of Jung-bin’s message was an address. After wiping his face with his palm, Sa-young handed back the tablet and said.
“Tell Min-gi Seo to check the address.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I’ll go there myself once it’s confirmed.”
“By yourself?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Sa-young got up from his seat and put the eye patch in a black envelope. The inside of the eye patch, which was faintly visible, was melted black. Bae Won-woo frowned and said.
“Hey, let’s go together. I know all about your situation.”
“We can’t both leave our posts…. Especially at a time like this.”
Sa-young turned to Bae Won-woo and raised his index finger to his lips.
“Keep your mouth shut.”
Ziiing, the phone vibrated. Min-gi Seo said, “Just a moment,” took out his phone from his pants pocket, and pressed the receive button.
“Yes, this is Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo.”
“Oh, it’s me.”
A familiar voice. It was Bae Won-woo. Min-gi Seo glanced at Eui-jae, minimized the sound as much as possible, and lowered his voice.
“Yes, what’s the matter?”
“It’s the Guild Master’s order. I’ll send you an address, so go there and check it out. Whether there’s a real building there, or something underground, or whatever.”
“Um, I understand. I’ll go right away.”
Min-gi Seo mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ to Eui-jae. It seems to be Guild business. Well, anyway, he needed time to sort out his thoughts. It was the moment when Eui-jae was about to leave his seat as if he hadn’t heard. On the other side of the phone, Bae Won-woo said in a sighing voice.
“This is the information Jung-bin gave me? It seems to be an address related to Prometheus. Search it thoroughly.”
Min-gi Seo froze with his mouth open. No matter how much he lowered the volume, it seemed like he had already heard everything. A cold chill ran down his spine. Min-gi Seo raised his head with a creak like a broken robot.
A pair of eyes, shining blue, were staring at him. The lips of the owner of the eyes curled up into a smile. J answered only with lip movements.
‘Prometheus?’
Min-gi Seo tightly closed his eyes.