Chapter 12

Chapter 12. Reagent Factory (2)

“I said no. Working with you people.”

I raised my middle finger as high as I could.

You know I’ve spent years playing this game and seen the endings of every single route, right?

And in every one of those routes, Inrang was always the one handling the shadiest business behind the scenes.

Specialists in being the bad guys, in other words.

The root cause that made R.O.K.A’s already chaotic story even more of a mess.

I know perfectly well what kind of shit you’re going to pull in the future.

And you want me to walk straight into your living room?

‘Why would I?’

I hate the idea of you bastards learning even the slightest bit about my abilities.

That’s why I’ve kept them secret even from Saetani, the organization I currently belong to.

The moment my abilities become known, I’d be lucky if I wasn’t dragged off for human experimentation.

“W-why?! Offers like this don’t come often!”

“Why should I care? I said I don’t want to. Why are you clinging so desperately? It’s pathetic.”

More than anything, I’d always hated how they secretly dug into people’s backgrounds and caused trouble in every direction.

Then, whenever someone tried to investigate them, they would cut off the tail and use money and power to sweep everything under the rug, leaving everyone else to suffer for nothing.

I’d hated that about them from way back.

“I-if it’s a matter of preference, we could even include that silver-haired woman as an option! Or perhaps another option―”

“Maria? Why are you suddenly bringing her up...”

Ah.

This idiot doesn’t know who the real manager of Saetani is.

A half-baked smartass.

If Inrang’s intelligence network was only at that level, that was even more reason not to join them.

“See? Why would I trust a bunch of losers whose intelligence network is worse than that of some local administrator in a lower district?”

“L-losers...”

The man looked genuinely shocked.

He was probably someone who had walked an elite career path, so this kind of provocation worked well.

“And that prototype you’re trying to distribute is probably some pathetic little drug―”

As I continued provoking him while counting the Lycans.

I suddenly paused at a sense of incongruity that flashed through my mind.

‘Prototype? Clinical trials?’

That bastard definitely said those words.

‘But Inrang doesn’t bother with pocket-change businesses like drugs.’

The numbers simply don’t add up, and they’re already busy enough keeping the Families in check through other industries.

That was why I assumed this was a side business some pawn was running to line his own pockets.

But would anyone use terms like that for mere narcotics?

“―!!”

I remembered.

A technology Inrang, which mainly focused on the defense industry, had secretly established a laboratory to develop.

To push aside the Families and the Imperial Household and monopolize hegemony over the Korean Peninsula...

A new drug designed to overcome their one and only ‘weakness.’

“The Heaven’s Door Project!! Don’t tell me it’s already on the verge of commercialization?”

The man in the lab coat visibly panicked at my words.

“H-how do you know that name?!”

“So it’s true... Damn it, there’s a limit to how badly the story can get twisted.”

【Heaven’s Door Project】

Its official name was something like Mana Sensitivity Acceleration Special Drug.

It was created by a biotechnology research institute under Inrang, and its effect was simple.

‘Those who drink it open the gates of heaven and temporarily become Awakened.’

The one weakness Inrang had despite being inferior to neither the Families nor the Imperial Household in technology or capital.

【The absolute shortage of Awakened personnel】

When it came to military strength derived from Awakened individuals who wielded mana and transcended human limits, Inrang simply couldn’t defeat the other two.

That was why they were always desperate to secure hunters as substitute personnel for Awakened, just as they were reaching out to me now.

They had actually managed to recruit three of the highest-ranking SSS-rank hunters.

And after carrying out all manner of illegal human experiments, they eventually developed Heaven’s Door.

Using that as the foundation, civil war broke out, while anomalies erupted throughout the city. That was the main content of the mid-to-late chapters I remembered.

‘But like I said, that should be much, much later.’

Once the drug wore off, the user returned to normal, and the side effects were severe.

It even caused extreme withdrawal symptoms like narcotics, meaning anyone who drank it even once became Inrang’s slave forever.

Why is a prototype of that insane drug already appearing here?

Its development has been accelerated by at least three years.

“I asked where you heard that name!!”

The man in the lab coat had apparently lost his temper so badly he had even forgotten to speak politely.

Seeing him scream at me actually made my thoughts calmer.

‘Then again, if I sold this information to the Families or the Imperial Household...’

Inrang would obviously try to cut off the tail and contain the situation.

And here, that bastard was the tail.

‘Right. I still have a huge advantage when it comes to information.’

I can start making countermeasures from now on.

Good thing I stuck my head into this out of meddling.

If I had left this alone without knowing, it could have become a disaster.

“Who knows. Why don’t you use that vaunted Inrang intelligence network and figure it out?”

“K-kill him! Kill that bastard no matter what! Forget recruiting talent, kill him!!”

At the man’s pointing command, the Lycans charged at me all at once.

“Graaaah!!”

“Grrraah!”

But it was already too late.

I’ve already finished counting how many of you there are.

―Crunch. Grind.

Watching the claws rushing toward me, I bit down hard on a fragment of alloy plate and swallowed it.

[You have consumed rare material.]

[Your body will be strengthened using the consumed material.]

[You have gained a large amount of proficiency.]

[Your hunger has decreased significantly.]

Leaving the notification in my head behind.

I threw a punch at the Lycan in front of me.

“Hah, arrogant bastard!! I don’t know how you ambushed that drunken Jeogwi, but facing a Lycan mercenary unit head-on―”

―CRUNCH!!

“...Huh?”

The Lycan took my metalized fist directly to the face, and its head twisted backward.

Then its staggering body slammed into the floor.

“Grrk?!”

“Grr?!”

The other Lycans were equally shocked.

Good thing I recovered the data chips from Jeogwi and that idiotic trio.

‘That bastard knows absolutely nothing about my abilities.’

If he had, he wouldn’t have brought mere Lycan mercenaries.

He would’ve brought a unit of Awakened.

―BANG!! CRUNCH!!

After I smashed the second and third Lycans in succession, the man finally realized something was wrong.

“H-how can an N-Tek take down a Lycan mercenary unit barehanded...”

“N-Tek, N-Tek. Keep singing it. I’m sick to death of hearing it.”

N-Tek was a derogatory term for people who remained unmodified because they couldn’t afford cyberware.

It was also a pun because it sounded similar to antique, meaning old-fashioned or obsolete.

“Were you bastards born with Machine Arms attached to your bodies? You ungrateful sons of bitches!”

Though Lycans hated machines and were N-Teks like me.

‘Why should I care?’

If they sided with these bastards, they were all the same to me.

The only disappointing thing was that there was nothing on these guys I could eat.

“K-keep your distance!! Take him down from range!”

When about half the Lycan group had been wiped out, the man must have gotten desperate.

He started giving direct orders.

At his command, the Lycans leaped backward and gathered power into both arms.

‘Wolf’s Claw. So it really was that.’

The Lycans’ only ranged technique.

That was what had tried to cut both me and the thug apart earlier.

“Grrr!!”

They called it a claw, but in reality, it worked by firing highly compressed air.

―SHRAAAK!

Invisible blades flew at me from every direction.

‘Earlier, I dodged because I didn’t know what it was.’

But once I know what it is, it’s easy enough to deal with.

“Hup!”

I metalized primarily around my vital points and kicked off the ground.

―Slice! Slash!

The areas I hadn’t metalized were gradually cut by the high-pressure air.

But since I was wrapped in Bulgasari’s power, wounds of that level healed in an instant.

“Grr?!”

“Hraaah!”

The greatest weakness of Wolf’s Claw.

It takes time to compress the air again.

In other words, once I break through the first barrage, it’s my turn!

―CRUNCH!

The Lycans were smashed one after another while trying to gather air again.

Some apparently realized this wasn’t going to work.

They dispersed the air they had gathered and tried hand-to-hand combat instead.

―THUD!

It was like striking a rock with an egg.

A Lycan collapsed with a hole punched through its chest along with my fist.

Before long, the inside of the factory was filled with the thick stench of blood and chunks of flesh.

And the corpses of Lycans lying dead all over the place.

“Phew...”

“I-impossible.”

Except for the man in the lab coat staring blankly from above.

And me, standing in the middle of a pool of blood.

“Th-this is impossible!!”

“What are you babbling so loudly for?”

I climbed the stairs toward the railing where he stood.

The man flinched and backed away.

“W-wait a moment! It’s true that something regrettable happened between us, but I believe we can settle this through discussion!”

“Bullshit.”

I continued as I took off my shredded coat.

“You stalk people, kidnap innocent kids, and lock them up, yet you sure have a lot to say for a piece of trash.”

“Th-that’s...!”

“If you want to die even slightly more comfortably, tell me everything you know about the prototype you mentioned earlier.”

I loosened my shoulders and took another step closer.

“Where it’s being researched, how far development has progressed, and how complete the prototype currently is.”

Since there were no drugs in this factory, there must be another place like this somewhere.

‘Those drug-dealing kidnappers said they hadn’t released it in this area yet...’

It might already be spreading through other districts.

If I interfere with that, I might be able to delay the commercialization of Heaven’s Door, and the civil war that follows, even a little.

“And all the design data you’ve backed up to the cloud.”

“Ghk...!”

The man hurriedly pulled a handgun from inside his coat.

“D-die!!”

―Bangbangratatat!

He pulled the trigger repeatedly from right in front of me.

“Finished?”

“Huh?”

A toy-like gun like that barely registers anymore.

Of course, it hurts, but sadly, I’ve gotten used to this level of pain.

Watching me walk toward him unscathed despite taking the bullets head-on, the man’s face twisted violently.

“What the hell are you? What the hell are you?!”

―Click, click!

The emptied gun clicked uselessly.

“Eek!!”

He dies if he talks.

He dies if he doesn’t.

That extreme stress seemed to finally destroy his judgment.

“I-I don’t want to die yet!!”

He turned his back on me and started running.

I drew the handgun from my holster toward his back.

And pulled the trigger without hesitation.

―BOOM!!

A deafening sound.

Along with the vicious recoil, a hole opened in the fleeing man’s back.

‘That was my first time using it in actual combat.’

But at this kind of straight-line distance, missing would’ve been stranger.

―Splash.

I extracted the data chip from the neck of the man who had collapsed.

“Got more things to investigate now.”

I wonder how far Heaven’s Door has already spread throughout the lower districts.

‘But the entire lower district isn’t exactly some tiny neighborhood.’

Searching the entire outskirts of this huge city would be a pain.

Should I sell the information to the Imperial Household or the Families through Saetani?

It might be better to let them tear each other apart for a while.

I tucked the chip into my clothes and walked down the stairs.

And just as I opened the door to the basement storage room to free the trapped children.

―WEE-OOO! WEE-OOO!!

Loud sirens blared from all around the factory grounds.

“Police?”

Why are those bastards suddenly here?

Gunshots and fighting are completely commonplace in this city...

“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.”

The thugs’ conversation flashed through my mind.

The bribed corrupt cops!

Did that guy call in backup in advance to clean up the situation?

“...He was annoyingly well prepared.”

Corrupt or not, they were still police.

If I attacked them, I’d become a criminal.

‘If I show them my hunter registration, they’ll obviously check what request I was working on.’

I hesitated for a moment because of the children still trapped inside.

“SCPD! Drop your weapon and put your hands up!!”

“SCPD!! Hands up!”

Armed police pushed in from every direction.

Breaking through this level of force and escaping would be easy, but...

‘Riot armor and shields? Heavy weapons too?’

These weren’t some random street patrol officers.

That distinctive equipment set definitely belonged to...

“Secure the crime scene. Entry team, stand by.”

My suspicion became certainty when I saw the figure entering while controlling the situation over the radio.

“We have identified someone believed to be the suspect in a mass aggravated homicide. The Special Suppression Team will take over the scene from here.”

Short, dull blond hair cut neatly.

Shimmering blue eyes and long ears.

The only elf among the flood of police officers.

And yet the person with the highest rank and authority at this scene.

“Chief Superintendent Kim Cheol-su...?”

“...? How do you know me?”

The man’s eyes gleamed with curiosity at my mutter.

Chief Superintendent Kim Cheol-su, commander of the Anti-Terror Special Suppression Team, the strongest combat force of the Neo Seoul Police Department.

He possessed a combat-type trait uncommon among NPCs.

And even without equipment, his raw combat strength alone was estimated by the Association to be at the very top of C-rank.

If he used his dedicated equipment and trait as well... he ranked near the top even among B-ranks, one level higher.

‘From that point on, most of them are cyborgs whose entire bodies have been heavily modified.’

In practice, he was near the absolute limit a metahuman could reach while keeping nearly all of their original body intact.

‘Can I beat him?’

He doesn’t seem to have his dedicated equipment right now, so probably.

But if we fight, the entire police department would become my enemy, right?

More importantly, why is that man here right now?

The Special Suppression Team reports directly to the Imperial Household...

“...Ah!!”

“Hmm?”

Another high-pitched voice pierced through my complicated thoughts.

“Excuse me!”

Someone jumped out from behind Chief Superintendent Kim Cheol-su and waved at me.

Oddly enough, they wore something like a flight jacket over their suppression uniform.

“It is you, right? The person from back then!”

Short blond hair, shimmering blue eyes.

Long ears fluttering.

Another elf, with a large bandage stuck to the left cheek.

‘Was there another elf besides Kim Cheol-su in the Special Suppression Team?’

Wait, something about that face looks familiar.

“You really don’t recognize me... Is it because I cut my hair? What about this?”

When I looked uncertain, the elf removed the bandage from their cheek.

Behind it was a long scar that looked as though it had been cut by a knife...

“...Ah!”

“Do you remember me now?”

It was the very elf I had rescued from Jeogwi’s hideout.

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) |

@dreambookss

Submissions |

fansycnc@samyangcnc.com

No part of this book may be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. - Dream Books.