Chapter 11

Chapter 11. Reagent Factory (1)

“...”

When I’m wrapped in the power of Bulgasari, my senses become sharper.

So I end up hearing things I don’t want to hear whether I like it or not.

Judging by the raised voices, it sounds more like an argument than a conversation.

But what does that matter?

Out here on the damp and gloomy outskirts of the city, in the lower districts that are practically lawless zones.

Every three steps, you hear either gunshots, curses, or screams.

‘I’m a hunter now, not some hero of justice.’

Right now, I’m busy enough thinking about how I can get stronger.

And how I can return to my original world.

I barely have time to worry about my own survival, so why should I care about public safety on the streets?

That was why I was going to treat this commotion too.

As just another ordinary part of city life, nothing more than white(?) noise, and walk past it.

“N-no! I don’t want to! Let go of me!”

If the voice I heard through the acid rain that had begun falling drop by drop again today.

Hadn’t been far too thin, weak, and frail to belong to an adult.

And if it hadn’t been a voice I had definitely heard before.

“Th-thank you, mister.”

At the corner of the underground passage in front of Saetani.

Once a day, a ten-thousand-won act of meddling that was nothing more than self-satisfaction.

A little beggar kid whose name I didn’t even know, and who might drop dead who knew when or where.

Why are you here?

Weren’t you hiding in the underground passage because the outside was dangerous and people were territorial?

“Tch, damn it.”

By the time I muttered the curse under my breath.

I had already stepped into the alley.

“What are a bunch of ugly-looking punks doing gathered together? Having a pajama party?”

At my voice, the dark-clothed bastards all turned around at once.

They were stuffing unaffiliated-looking kids into burlap sacks like potatoes...

It was practically an advertisement saying, ‘We’re doing something filthy right now!’

“...!!”

Looks like our ten-thousand-won meddling kid recognized my face.

Her face, covered in tears and snot, lit up.

‘Don’t look at me like that, kid.’

We’ve barely known each other for a week.

Complete strangers.

But every time I saw you, I felt uncomfortable enough to hand you ten thousand won.

If that suddenly disappeared, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Especially if you disappeared right within my field of view.

That’s all.

That’s why I stuck my nose in.

“Hey, man. Why’re you sticking your nose into someone else’s business?”

“Why don’t you just keep walking if you don’t want to die?”

“...Haa.”

―Crunch. Grind.

Annoying.

If it hadn’t been the ten-thousand-won meddling kid.

I’m annoyed at myself for knowing I would’ve calmly walked past no matter what happened to the other kids.

I’m annoyed at these shitty back alleys where things like this happen every single day.

‘If I can’t find a way back, or a way to get rid of this penalty...’

I’m annoyed at the possibility that I might spend the rest of my life chewing scrap metal in this goddamn future city.

“You know, I was actually in a pretty decent mood today.”

I clenched my fist and took another step forward.

“It went up and down a little, sure? But overall, I was honestly doing okay.”

“What the hell is that bastard babbling about?”

“Did he take something?”

“Didn’t they say the stuff from our factory hasn’t been released yet?”

“Shut up, idiot.”

Drugs... that damn drug business again.

I was just about to start looking into it again, and they keep poking around in my backyard?

‘Fine. Let’s kill each other today.’

A new event I’ve never experienced before?

For a veteran so deep in the game he’s practically rotten, that’s a festival.

“That bastard looks like he’s lost it too.”

“What are you doing? Take him out before the cops show up.”

“You said you already paid off the ones around here?”

“You think those thugs will be satisfied after taking money once? If they catch us, they’ll squeeze us again.”

At what seemed to be the leader’s order, they slowly began surrounding me.

Each of them pulled out knives, metal pipes, and the like and aimed them at me.

Maybe because it was still broad daylight and they were being cautious, none of them had guns.

Let’s see...

We’re far enough from the main road.

And the road connecting this alley to the next one has no foot traffic at all.

“Hurry up and tak―”

“Shut your mouth. Your breath stinks.”

―BANG!

I knocked away the thug in front of me with a punch.

I didn’t use metalization, and I controlled my strength reasonably well, so he probably didn’t die.

Probably.

“Huh?!”

“W-what the hell?!”

“Why do bastards like you keep crawling out endlessly in this goddamn city?”

―CRUNCH!

“B-block―”

“I’m seriously sick of it. Goddamn corrupt cops. Are they doing their jobs or not? And now drugs too? Druuugs??”

―BANG!

“Ghk?!”

“It’s not even the middle of the night. How are you brazenly doing this in broad daylight? Don’t you agree?”

―CRUNCH! BANG!

“Ghk?! Bleegh!!”

“If you don’t want to answer, then don’t. Why the hell are you puking in front of the kids?”

“Gurgh!!”

I dealt with the situation by smashing the charging thugs one after another into the floor and walls.

The crying from the kids stuffed into burlap sacks like potatoes had stopped before I knew it.

“E-eek!!”

When I slammed one of the final two remaining bastards into the ground, the other threw away his pipe and bolted.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

I picked up a nearby brick and threw it with force.

Direct strike.

“Ghk...!”

I turned away from the figure collapsing face-first and headed toward the little potato sacks.

“...!”

“...”

The kids had stopped crying but were clamping their mouths shut like they’d swallowed honey.

None of them looked even ten years old.

“They say there are hardly any kids left in the lower districts, yet you managed to gather this many.”

I didn’t particularly care about the others.

“Hey, kid. You okay?”

“Y-yes...!”

I walked up to the ten-thousand-won meddling kid and untied the half-fastened burlap sack.

After freeing the other kids too, they bowed their heads and scattered in all directions, apparently realizing they’d survived.

Except for the meddling kid.

“Why aren’t you leaving? More importantly, why are you here? You were always in the underground passage.”

“Th-that’s... my little sibling...”

“Sibling? You had one?”

The kid nodded at my question.

Then again, I didn’t even know her name, so why would I know her family situation?

“Where are they? One of the kids just now?”

“N-no. Th-those people t-took them...”

“So you chased them here looking for your sibling and got caught?”

“...!!”

Maybe she’d barely ever talked to people in the first place, because she kept stuttering.

But watching her gesture with her hands and feet and nod repeatedly, I more or less understood the situation.

“Are you stupid? In a situation like this, you call the police fir... Ah, right. This isn’t that kind of place.”

The police here weren’t guardians of the people. Most of them were corporate lapdogs.

Looks like I still hadn’t completely adjusted.

“What are they planning to do with kids who don’t even have anything worth taking?”

Should I leave her somewhere safe for now, then chase down the drug dealers?

The police were obviously useless...

I pulled out my phone to urgently explain the situation to Maria.

―Ding.

<​Yes, this is Maria. Are you finished shopping?>

“Yeah, I’m done shopping, but something a little annoying came up...”

At that moment, something tugged at my pant leg.

I twisted my head slightly and looked down to see the meddling kid staring up at me.

“―Hold on. Kid, what is it?”

“M-mister, you’re a hunter... right?”

“And?”

Then, with a trembling, stuttering voice, the kid pulled something out from inside her clothes.

In those tiny fern-like hands was a crumpled wad of bills.

The money I’d handed over as meddling was probably mixed in there.

I gave it to her so she wouldn’t starve and could at least buy a hot dog...

“P-please... save my little sibling. I’m... begging you.”

I firmly removed the pleading child’s hand from my pant leg.

“I don’t take kids’ pocket change. And don’t ever try to do something like this with a tiny amount of money somewhere else. You’ll be lucky if nobody hurts you.”

“...Sob.”

When I crouched down and moved those tiny hands away, the kid sniffled.

“So? What’s your name?”

“Sniff... What?”

“I asked your name.”

“H-Hani...”

“And your sibling?”

“D... Dani.”

So she was a girl.

Judging by the name, maybe the younger one was a boy.

“Do you know where they were taken?”

“They said... to a f-factory...”

“A factory.”

Those drug dealers earlier were talking about a factory too, weren’t they?

After hearing the answer, I stood back up.

“A woman in a suit is going to come here soon. Follow her and stay put. We’ll finish discussing payment after I bring your sibling back.”

“...?”

“This isn’t free. Pay me back when you grow up. Got it, kid?”

“...!! Y-yes!”

Only then did she seem to understand me, and her face brightened.

“Maria. You heard most of that, right? Process this as an on-the-spot request. Payment afterward.”

<​...That’s unexpected.>

“What is?”

<​Nothing. I’ll process it as requested.>

Then I seated the kid somewhere clearly visible from the street.

Dragged the unconscious thugs away.

And headed deeper into the alley for a more in-depth conversation.

_____________

“You’re sure that’s the place?”

“Y-yes!! Absolutely!”

After repeatedly waking the thugs up and putting them back to sleep, breaking things and setting them back into place several times in the depths of the alley.

I left the kid with Maria when she arrived.

Then, with the leader of those touched by my gentle physical therapy walking in front of me, we found the factory site.

‘It’s seriously right in the middle of the city?’

A roadside that still had pedestrians passing by, even if there weren’t many.

A large factory stood between shabby buildings.

Hide a tree in a forest, something like that?

They even have a sign hanging openly?

Pedro Reagent Factory?

Those bastards have some nerve.

“Oh-ho, your legs stopped moving? Why aren’t you walking?”

“S-sorry!”

We headed toward the factory’s rear entrance, and when the thug entered the password, the door opened smoothly.

Not even a guard?

I considered the possibility that it might be a trap, but there was no sign of anyone inside the factory either.

Something’s suspicious.

If this really is a place where Inrang operates, it’s far too lax.

“Where are the kids being held?”

“U-underground...”

“Then why aren’t you moving?”

With the thug leading the way, we arrived at the basement entrance.

What must have once been a storage area for materials was packed with children gathered from who knows where.

‘No other exits.’

I made the thug enter the door password, then raised my head toward the inside.

“Anyone here named ‘Dani,’ raise your hand. Ah, was that too difficult? Just raise your hand or your head.”

“...?”

From far away, one child weakly raised their head at my voice.

“You Dani? Your sister’s name is Hani?”

“...!”

Bingo.

The kid moved their mouth as if saying something, but I couldn’t hear it.

As long as they’re alive.

“But I don’t see any drugs.”

“I-I don’t know either. They were here until this morning...”

The thug stammered while operating the panel.

“Th-the door’s fully op―”

―SHNK.

The thug leader reporting to me was split cleanly in half.

But I couldn’t see the weapon that had bisected him.

―WHOOSH!

Then an invisible movement sprayed blood as it came toward me.

A vicious sound, like something slicing through the wind, surged in my direction.

“Hup!”

I quickly kicked off the ground and retreated.

Clear claw marks were carved into the spot where I’d been standing.

Invisible claws.

Sharp enough to cut concrete.

“Lycan?”

Someone answered my mutter.

“You’re quite knowledgeable. Unidentified N-Tek... no, Hunter Lee Gang-sik.”

Then the lights throughout the previously dark factory came on all at once.

“Grrr...”

Werewolves densely lined the second-floor railing, surrounding me.

One of the beastfolk races known as lycanthropes or werewolves.

‘The average individual ability is around D-rank.’

Much stronger than Kang Geum-man, and around Jeogwi’s level or slightly weaker.

But there are quite a lot of them.

Judging by how uncivilized they look, they’re probably a mercenary band formed by outcasts.

In that case.

“So you’re the ‘investor’?”

“Someone who called himself a gang boss must have had quite the loose tongue.”

“So that means I’m right.”

A man in a lab coat answered with a polite smile.

That bastard was the hidden pawn of Inrang.

The one who had Jeogwi distribute illegal drugs and conduct human trafficking.

I didn’t expect to meet him this quickly.

“Why would someone so important be kidnapping little kids like that?”

“Haha, all pharmaceuticals require clinical trials, don’t they?”

Then the man scattered several photographs.

“And additionally, I wanted to confirm exactly who was responsible for ruining the prototype’s first test.”

“Ah, so you were curious who crushed Jeogwi?”

“Yes. We invested quite a lot into Silver Fang in our own way.”

Listening to him, I picked up the photos.

The one lying on the floor showed me giving alms to the kid from a distance.

‘Those three from before probably took it.’

But there’s no way Ma Cheol-sik wouldn’t notice someone taking pictures inside the shop.

Maybe they had cameras built into their eyes.

“It took quite a lot of effort to learn about you.”

“That just means Saetani did its job well.”

“Yes, because a lower-district management office did its job far too well... we had no choice but to gamble on a straw-thin lead like this.”

Putting his words together.

They tried to find the person who took care of Jeogwi.

But Saetani and the Hunter Association controlled most of the information.

So all they knew about me was what those three double-contract hunters had told them...

‘So while they were at it, they decided to run another clinical trial and rounded up every kid they could find?’

All the kids around Jamsil just to lure out one person?

“Lunatics.”

Even if they were street children without so much as resident registration numbers.

Should I say the scale is impressive?

Or that they’re exactly the sort of inconsiderate bastards who never think through the consequences?

“I’m truly glad we were fortunate enough to meet like this. At last, we can have a constructive conversation.”

“I don’t have anything to talk about with you.”

“No, no. We value your abilities very highly.”

He continued with exaggerated gestures.

“Jeogwi of Silver Fang... according to the Association’s classification, he was D-rank, but his abilities as a hacker went beyond that. C-rank was well within his reach.”

“He looked pretty weak for that.”

“Yes!! You killed that Jeogwi! A rookie who had just become a hunter, in a single day!”

Then the man held out his hand into empty space as though offering a handshake.

“Don’t you think someone like you is more than worth making a recruitment offer to?”

So that was all this was.

He has a real talent for talking around the point.

“Join us. We promise treatment at least equivalent to the middle districts or higher. We’ll also provide the latest cyberware! Inrang always welcomes capable talent.”

“You want me to betray Saetani and the Association?”

“There’s no need to use such harsh terminology. They’re strangers with no blood relation to you anyway...”

The man paused to think, then smiled.

“You’d merely be changing business partners for better profit and self-realization. Isn’t that common in this line of work?”

“...Well, I guess it is.”

I casually replied, reminded of the times I had adjusted business partners back when I worked at a company.

The man’s face immediately brightened.

“As expected, you’re an open-minded person! In that case...”

“But no.”

“Excuse me?”

I raised my middle finger and smiled.

“I said no. I don’t want to work with you people.”

I Became an Immortal Who Chews on Steel

Author |

Mwiu

Publisher |

Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.

Managing Editor |

Editorial Department

Published by |

Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. - Dream Books

Address |

Rooms 806-810, Kolon Science Valley I, 187-10 Guro-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul

ISBN |

G720:N+A063-20261006118

Blog |

blog.naver.com/dreambookss

Twitter (X) |

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