Chapter 17

“W-wait…”

“Ugh!”

“No! How much do you think this outfit costs?!”

“Guards! Where are the guards?!”

As people desperately tried to distance themselves as if something filthy had fallen on them, a commotion arose and everyone’s attention in front of the building became focused.

It was just a momentary gap, but Yuseong nodded as he watched people subtly slipping into the building without missing that moment.

‘First mission successful. Now I should also…’

Grab!

When he turned his head, he saw a large man gripping his shoulder.

Just as Yuseong, who had briefly frozen at the sudden appearance, was about to open his mouth with a servile smile, the guard’s massive fist struck his abdomen.

“Where do you think you’re going after causing this commotion?”

“Kuhk! L-let go! Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?!”

“No idea. So why don’t we take some time to get to know each other?”

“W-wait…”

As if indicating he wouldn’t allow even a word of protest, the guard grabbed Yuseong’s collar and started dragging him to a nearby alley.

“S-sorry! I was wrong!”

“If you were wrong, you need to be punished.”

Along with the cold reply came relentless punches and kicks.

The brutal beating continued with sounds like meat being struck with a bat until it finally ended as the guard let out his held breath.

“You alive?”

“……”

“If you’re alive, be careful not to catch my eye next time. If I see you again, I’ll kill you.”

The people who had gathered in threes and fives to watch the one-sided beating as if it were entertainment started going their separate ways as Yuseong didn’t even twitch after the guard left.

And the moment people had completely left, Yuseong, who had been lying there like dead, naturally got up as if nothing had happened.

“He really beat me mercilessly. Is this world always this brutal?”

-The empire is at war and the economy is struggling, so things are a bit like that. More importantly, are you alright?

“Oh, Shadow Moon Style 16? This is really good technique, no, martial art. Despite being beaten relentlessly, there’s barely any damage?”

Having learned murim martial arts even if only superficially, Yuseong had unconsciously looked down on martial arts from science-based worlds like Earth.

However, after actually using it, Shadow Moon Style 16 was amazing enough to completely blow away such prejudices.

“Form 6 Endurance and Form 8 Deflection? Using them together, almost no impact gets through.”

-T-this martial art was created by a legendary agent in our organization. But something seems strange.

“Strange? What?”

-Shadow Moon Style 16 is such an intricate martial art that it fails if the timing is even slightly off. In actual combat rather than sparring, it’s difficult to use even one form at a time, so how did you use two forms simultaneously?

“I just did it and it worked?”

-…Users really are different.

To be precise, it was thanks to Asura Perception Way.

The moment he recited Asura Perception Way’s incantation, his accelerated thoughts, extended perceived time, and faster reactions came together harmoniously, allowing him to execute Shadow Moon Style 16 perfectly timed with the impact of attacks.

Naturally, it was much easier to use while directly seeing and calculating than trying to gauge the opponent’s speed, attack direction, and timing purely by feel.

After dusting off his clothes, Yuseong carefully began approaching Neptune’s building while avoiding attention.

However, this time it wasn’t from the front.

-Turn right there and go straight.

Walking along the building’s dark side where streetlights were broken, Yuseong looked around briefly before grabbing the handle of a thick iron door and pulling.

Creeeeak!

The door opened with a sharp metallic sound as if it hadn’t been oiled.

After walking a few steps, there was a neatly folded black suit like the ones the guards from earlier were wearing.

These had been prepared by agents who had secretly entered the building while Yuseong was causing a commotion.

After changing from his old, shabby clothes into the suit and gathering various equipment, Yuseong passed through the dark corridor into a bright hall.

‘Really fancy. Didn’t you say the economy was bad?’

-For people invited to a party at Neptune, one of the world’s top corporations, this much is expected. Don’t look around unnecessarily and draw suspicion – enter through the door next to the elevator. If we get caught here, we’re in real trouble.

‘Don’t worry, we won’t get caught.’

Though he was bickering with Philip internally, with Acting skill activated, Yuseong was the very picture of a guard focused on his duties no matter how you looked at him.

Trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible to the guards, he crossed the corridor to an iron door and entered through it.

“You’re late.”

As Yuseong was startled by the unfamiliar man’s appearance, Philip offered timely advice.

-He’s a full agent assigned to this mission together. Don’t you remember him from the room earlier?

“Ahem. I apologize. The guard was persistently…”

“‘Apologize’?”

-H-Henry is my colleague. You can speak casually.

“…Ah, sorry. Maybe it’s the shock from being beaten by the guard, but my words came out wrong.”

“Did you get hit in the head? Get checked out after this is over. Don’t just brush it off or it might get you later.”

“Got it, but let’s move quickly. Time is of the essence, right?”

“Fine. Follow me.”

Though Yuseong expected to go up, Henry headed down.

While naturally following without showing his confusion, he asked Philip a question.

‘Why are we going underground? In such a tall building, shouldn’t we start from the top?’

-The commander and other colleagues are handling that side. Me and him were assigned to search the warehouses on basement floors 3 through 5.

‘Just that? Seems like it’ll be quick?’

-Ahem, since Henry just became a full agent and I was a perpetual trainee, the commander gave us a relatively easy role. We search the underground warehouses and secure escape routes while waiting at designated points, or block enemy reinforcements if necessary.

Lost in conversation with Philip, Yuseong was brought back to reality by Henry’s voice.

“What’s this?”

A thick iron door with just a handle, no keyhole or lock.

Henry made a bewildered expression as the door wouldn’t budge no matter how much he pulled or pushed.

“This is different from the briefing? Wasn’t it supposed to be locked with a padlock? What kind of wall is this?”

After pathetically tapping here and there with a thin piece of wire, Henry stepped back with a long sigh.

“You do it.”

“What?”

“What do you mean what? Pick the lock.”

“…Me?”

No matter how he thought about it, Philip had no skills even remotely related to lock picking.

Just as he was about to recheck the status window wondering if he’d missed something, Philip’s voice came.

-Ah, use the equipment at your left hip.

‘Equipment? This?’

Perhaps befitting a secret agent on a covert mission, Philip had items you might see in spy movies.

Unknown drugs, a small pistol that fit perfectly in one hand, what looked like a matte-finished dagger, and so on.

Among them, what Yuseong found most incomprehensible was what he was taking out now.

‘What’s this? A club?’

A thick black rod about 50cm long – short if you call it short, long if you call it long.

-A club? Haha, so you make jokes too, user.

‘Then what is it?’

-It’s a weapon, isn’t it? Press the button on the bottom.

A small protrusion felt at his fingertip.

The moment he pressed it, an unimaginable sight unfolded before his eyes.

Crack!

With a sound like lightning striking, energy gathered at the rod’s tip forming a huge purple blade.

“…A hatchet?”

Not a huge lumberjack’s axe but a one-handed hatchet.

The difference was that instead of metal, the blade was made of energy like a lightsaber.

-Use that to cut through the hinges.

“What are you doing?”

At Philip and Henry’s urging, Yuseong carefully brought the hatchet’s blade to the hinge.

There was no need to swing with force.

The moment it touched, the hinge turned red-hot and soon melted into a puddle of molten metal, and the door opened disappointingly easily.

“Since it’s wide, let’s split up to search. I’ll take the left side from here, you take the right.”

Yuseong wordlessly walked in the opposite direction from Henry.

The moment he turned the corner, he gripped the rod and concentrated.

Brant Republic Research Lab #53 Prototype Close Combat Weapon

Rank: C+ (Rare)

Type: Hatchet

-Next-generation close combat weapon made by the Brant Republic. Successfully generates high-power plasma using special energy source and new alloy, but due to technological limitations stability is poor making prolonged combat impossible. Exercise caution when using in actual combat.

-Extreme cutting power.

-Fire and Light attributes.

-Nullifies energy effects below certain threshold.

-Strength +10

-Agility +20

“What is this?”

He was so surprised he unconsciously spoke out loud.

-Ah, it’s one of the next-generation infantry weapons developed by our republic. Though not officially adopted due to unresolved stability issues, its power is extraordinary so agents are…

“That’s not what I’m asking about… How did they make this?”

This world’s civilization was undoubtedly science-based and at best only reached early or mid-20th century level.

Yet suddenly there’s a plasma weapon straight out of science fiction?

It was beyond incredulous – it felt like common sense was about to collapse.

-How they made it? Well, the research lab made it, right?

“No, how did they make such an incredible thing? No matter how I look at it, this seems made with technology several levels beyond this world’s science?”

-Ah, that was possible thanks to the Out-of-Place Artifact.

A term meaning artifacts that transcend the limits of their era.

“Come to think of it, you mentioned there might be that Out-of-Place Artifact here too. What exactly is an Out-of-Place Artifact?”

-I don’t really know either. There are lots of rumors about how they can instantly turn small countries into superpowers competing for hegemony and even change the course of the world, but nothing is known about what they actually are…

“……”

Yuseong put the plasma hatchet back at his hip after deactivating the blade.

Though momentarily startled by the appearance of a superweapon that far transcended the era’s limitations, this wasn’t Earth but another world.

There were worlds where all sorts of monsters tried to kill a frail girl, worlds with murim practitioners using martial arts, and Earth itself was being invaded by monsters while superhuman ability users appeared to fight them.

It wasn’t strange for plasma weapons to appear in a world with 20th century technology.

‘Right. This is ordinary.’

After finishing his self-hypnosis and about to start searching, Yuseong scratched his head as he looked around.

A huge warehouse filled with all sorts of unknown odds and ends and machinery.

Finding something when even its location, form, and very existence were uncertain was like searching for a needle in a desert.

Of course, if this Out-of-Place Artifact really existed, it would be stored securely befitting its importance, so they might find some clues while searching, but this was still too inefficient.

‘If only there was some special way to find hidden items…’

At that moment, a tingling sensation rose in his left eye and the world began to look different.

Objects turned monochrome and energy flows emitting light.

He could see electricity flowing through wires hidden in walls, and looking up, the city shone brilliantly like stars in the night sky beyond the dull concrete ceiling.

Seeing his left eye faintly glowing in a nearby car’s mirror, Yuseong burst into hollow laughter.

“…No wonder Alice was proud of it.”