Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 47: Puppet (1)

Titan Tech’s top-tier medical facility was located at the heart of Eastern Babel.

The building, constructed from glass and steel, housed the most advanced medical technology Babel had to offer.

Most of the patients were either Titan Tech’s high-ranking executives or special agents, though occasionally, key personnel from other megacorps would receive treatment here through secret agreements.

Of course, only if they could afford the price tag.

Riley was receiving treatment in one of these ultra-luxury rooms.

Fresh flowers were arranged throughout the room, and the soft lighting gently brightened the interior.

Most of all, the window overlooking a park full of cherry blossoms helped soothe her heart.

Then came a knock, followed by the door opening—Dominic Krylov walked in.

The Director of Development at Titan Tech looked different than usual. The usual cold expression was still there, but today, it was laced with clear exhaustion.

Dark circles clung beneath his eyes, and his usually well-groomed hair was slightly disheveled.

“Riley. You look like you’re holding up.”

Riley sat up in bed and greeted him with a quiet voice.

“Director... You came here yourself...?”

Dominic walked slowly over and sat down on the chair next to her bed.

His eyes carefully scanned her condition.

“You’re the only researcher who survived the lab incident. Coming here in person is the least I can do.”

Riley absentmindedly fidgeted with the Whitey plush doll resting on her bed.

“You’ve probably been asked this a lot already, but... can you tell me what happened that day?”

Dominic asked.

Riley looked up at the ceiling for a moment.

Even now, the memories came flooding back vividly.

“The AI Frame alarm went off.”

She began to speak slowly.

“Markus rushed in, yelling that we had to get out, and we all ran into the hallway.”

“But... it was already too late. The corridor was packed with armed mercenaries... gunfire was everywhere. I could hear people falling, screaming... everyone was running like crazy.”

Dominic listened in silence.

“And then I got shot. Or, I only realized it after the fact.”

Riley pointed to her abdomen.

“Here. I think the bullet went straight through. I collapsed to the floor... and saw blood pouring out.”

Up to this point, her story matched the reports Dominic had received from his subordinates.

He leaned forward, locking eyes with her.

“Even a blurry memory is fine. Do you remember anything else?”

Riley closed her eyes for a moment.

That day’s memories blurred the line between reality and hallucination.

“I was bleeding so much... I think I saw something strange while I was fading in and out. I don’t remember it clearly, but...”

“What was it?”

“A cat. No, a human... with cat ears.”

Riley said.

“Dark skin... and I think I saw them running around, glowing blue.”

Dominic fell silent.

To anyone else, her words would’ve sounded like a clear hallucination, but he nodded with a serious expression.

****

Dominic returned to his office at the top floor of the Titan Tech Eastern Branch.

Beyond the window, Eastern Babel’s glittering nightscape spread out in all directions.

But the beauty didn’t register in his eyes.

Dominic, exhausted, slumped into his chair.

Unread messages were still blinking on his AR interface.

“Maybe I pushed too hard.”

He muttered to himself.

There had been a brief moment—a flicker of blue deep within Riley’s pupils. Or at least, he thought he saw it.

But it couldn’t have been real. Riley didn’t have a single implant. There was no reason her eyes would glow.

It had to be a trick of the light.

Dominic used his AR interface to organize the data related to Riley.

As he documented the report, a swirl of questions lingered in his mind.

How had Riley survived such a fatal wound?

Why did the Erosion Zone disappear?

And who—what—was that “human with cat ears”?

To shake off the fatigue, Dominic opened a drawer and pulled out a small vial.

A stimulant, engineered to forcibly boost alertness.

He hadn’t gotten a full hour of sleep since the incident began.

The drug had kept him awake so far, but he was nearing his limit.

“Just need to wrap it up.”

Dominic walked over to the window and looked up at the night sky over Babel.

The Erosion Zone incident was almost closed.

The lab would be rebuilt. Additional security would be implemented.

All that remained was to track down the bastard who filled Golden Murdock’s head with delusions.

Just as he was about to close the AR interface, a report he’d seen recently popped into his head.

It was written by Rufus Bolt, the lead engineer.

He was sure... there had been a record of a cyborg with cat ears in it—!

Dominic stood up from his seat and headed for the archive room.

****

Blake from the Babel Police Department’s Investigations Division was driving toward the city’s outskirts.

A sudden sandstorm slammed against the windows, rattling them like mad.

The car’s wipers thrashed back and forth nonstop, but it didn’t help much. Visibility was still zero.

Slumped in the driver’s seat, Blake stared out at the storm.

“Burning Duct...”

His objective was simple.

Find the infamous mercenary known as “A.”

There was no hope left for support from the top, so his only option was to turn to a merc.

“A merc with a 100% success rate lives out here? Seriously?”

Blake muttered.

The elite mercs he knew lived under Eastern Babel’s bright neon lights, drowning in luxury.

Outfitted with high-grade implants, they partied at places like Neuron Nectar—until it was blown to hell recently.

The idea that someone like A would be living in the outer ruins was ridiculous.

Unless she was hooked on gambling, drugs, or burning through absurd amounts of luxury goods, there was no reason to live out here.

“Hard to believe, no matter how I look at it...”

He double-checked the address he’d gotten from his informant.

Outskirts of Babel, Burning Duct, Sector A-7—aka the Sandstorm Ruins.

One of the most warped zones from the Great Fusion era.

Now, just a wasteland full of rubble.

Who the hell would be living in a place like that?

The storm intensified. The vehicle began to groan under the pressure.

Not even this specially-equipped investigation vehicle could push through?

Blake pulled behind a stable-looking wall and parked.

With the car out of commission, he’d have to walk from here.

“Goddamn it...”

He flipped up his coat collar to block the sand.

In his hand was a standard-issue BPD pistol.

He had it drawn because this area was known to be dangerous.

Burning Duct was a lawless zone.

Out here, strength was the only law.

After walking for about ten minutes,

Blake finally spotted a crumbling building.

Unlike Babel’s usual skyscrapers, this one had barely three floors left.

The rest had collapsed into scattered debris.

“A merc living in this dump is supposed to be top-tier...?”

Doubt crept in as Blake approached the stairs.

Shattered glass and broken chunks of concrete littered the floor in a chaotic heap.

Blake checked his AR interface and climbed the stairs slowly.

His destination was at the top—third floor.

He stayed alert the whole way up.

These kinds of ruins often hid gangs or squatters.

But strangely, the building felt completely empty.

No sound. No presence. Nothing.

When he finally reached the third floor, he saw a steel door that looked oddly intact compared to the rest of the structure.

A definite sign that someone lived here.

He stood in front of the door, hesitating for a moment.

Should he knock, or just bust in?

In the end, he decided to show some manners.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound of knocking echoed through the hallway, and Blake held his breath, waiting for a response.

Before long, light footsteps approached from inside.

And the door opened.

Standing in the doorway was, to his surprise, a little girl.

No—more accurately, it was a full-body cyborg that looked like a young girl.

Blue circuit patterns glowed faintly across her synthetic body, and her white hair framed her small face.

Blake was caught off guard.

This was not what he’d expected the mercenary to look like.

Did that pickpocket feed him bad intel?

No way someone like that was “A.”

Blake had dealt with countless mercenaries over the years. His gut told him this wasn’t it.

He made a mental note to punch that street rat the next time he saw him.

Then her eyes lit up—cold and electric.

Suddenly, blue lightning crackled through the air, and a suffocating, violent presence radiated out from her.

The atmosphere snapped cold, like the air had frozen solid.

Blake’s instincts screamed at him.

A chill ran down his spine.

He °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° stepped back without realizing it.

In his ten-plus years working with the Babel Police Department, Blake had dealt with more criminals and mercenaries than he could count.

Is this... the one with the 100% success rate? freeweɓnovel.cøm

But he had never felt pressure like this before.

****

When the door opened, the first thing I saw was a massive man.

A black coat hung from his shoulders, the letters "BPD" printed in bold across the back—Babel Police Department.

“!”

Maybe it was the memories from a past life, but the second I saw the BPD insignia, my body instinctively tensed.

I could feel the Hexa Core Ring in my chest begin to spin on reflex.

And then came the flood—every illegal op I’d run since becoming a merc: demolition jobs, gang exterminations, corporate data theft...

Too many to count.

The cop’s stiff, unreadable expression only made me more uneasy.

What if he attacks?

Would I be okay as long as I don’t kill him?

Or should I jump into the shadows and bail? Toss Agwi to buy time?

A dozen scenarios raced through my head.

My heart spun faster as the tension rose.

But then, something strange happened.

The cop’s stern face shifted in an instant.

Like the curtain falling after a stage play, the pressure vanished, replaced by a respectful demeanor.

“My name is Blake. Investigations Division, Babel Police Department.”

He gave a slight bow, speaking politely.

His sudden change in behavior left me confused.

What the hell is this?

****

I let the polite Blake into my studio apartment and asked calmly,

“Detective from BPD. What exactly do you want with me?”

He was distracted for a moment, watching Kiwis and Agwi tearing around the place like maniacs, then cleared his throat.

That earlier, overbearing vibe was completely gone. Now, he looked more like someone desperate for help.

“Miss A. I need your assistance.”

A cop asking a merc for help—that didn’t happen every day.

?

I tilted my head, and Blake quickly added an explanation.

“Under normal circumstances, the BPD’s internal tactical teams would’ve handled it. But...”

He sighed deeply.

“HQ ordered a total shutdown on further investigation.”

Now I understood why he was in a position where he had to find a merc.

I opened my mouth.

“Then what exactly do you want me to do? And how much are you paying?”

The two most important questions: job objective and pay.

Blake tensed slightly before answering.

“The job is to prove my partner William’s innocence.”

He hesitated, then stated the payment.

“The reward is 1,187 credits.”

An unclear objective that might take a long time to resolve—and way too little pay for the effort.

“No.”

I shut it down immediately.

Then Blake suddenly stood up and placed a hologram projector on the floor.

“Please, just look at this once. This really matters to Babel.”

Before I could say anything, the hologram lit up and filled the studio.

The footage was about a mysterious group.

A hidden organization operating in Babel without anyone knowing.

They killed, deceived, stole...

To me, it all sounded like some urban legend.

The hologram detailed how dangerous the group was—what Blake was chasing.

Blake was a strange guy.

Why would a cop show a mercenary how terrifying and brutal his enemy was?

Was he hoping I’d turn him down?

I was going to say no, obviously—

But the moment I saw that in the footage, my mouth opened on its own.

“I’ll do it.”

It was one of the symbols Blake said belonged to the organization.

Most of them looked like random junk carved into stone, but this one was different.

I recognized it instantly.

It was the logo of Songpa Connect, a subsidiary of MK Corp.