WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Max-Level Swordsman of Fusionpunk ◈
Chapter 13
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“Forget it. No need.”
Answering the district police chief, Kang Doseok raised his sword.
The faces of the staff huddled in the corner of the VIP room went rigid. One drew a pistol from their waist.
Bang!
Kang Doseok twisted his blade. The deflected bullet pierced the eye of another staff member.
“Aaargh!”
The others ran for the exit.
Kang Doseok followed close behind. All it took was a few more swings.
Splat!
Shhk! Shwaaak!
Even the one in the lead lost their head. Blood sprayed in a long trail across the carpet. The district police chief watched from the edge of the poker table, smoking a cigarette.
“You’re quite good with that sword.”
Kang Doseok shook the blood off his blade.
“Done watching?”
“Yes. You earned me 2 billion, so I should at least offer a review.”
The chief looked around at the bodies scattered across the floor. The VIP room, packed with people just moments ago, had fallen silent.
“Very clean work. You would’ve made a fine police officer.”
“No. That would’ve been difficult.”
“Why? Police work is about dealing with people too. We beat up criminals and kill them when necessary.”
“I know that.”
Kang Doseok shook the remaining blood off his blade.
“But the pay wouldn’t make it worth my time.”
The chief chuckled.
“True. Trying to work a swordsman like you on a police salary would practically be theft.”
The chief took a deep drag. The glowing cigarette lit up a chrome-covered jaw.
“Time I headed back.”
The chief turned to the aide standing nearby.
“Call me a ride.”
“Yes, Chief.”
The aide checked a wrist terminal.
“Team Four of headquarters’ Special Operations Bureau, Counterterrorism Response Division, is returning to headquarters after completing a nearby mission. If we redirect them here, they can arrive within three minutes.”
“Tell them to pick me up on the way.”
“I’ll relay the order.”
The aide immediately opened a communications channel. With the cigarette still between his lips, the chief turned to Kang Doseok.
“Oh, Kang Doseok. That reminds me, I met someone not long ago.”
The chief tapped cigarette ash into the glass Big Bess had been using.
“They brought you up, you know. The deputy leader of Cheongmyeong, the Korean Cooperative guild.”
Kang Doseok looked at the chief.
“So the district police chief meets with Koreans too?”
“They offered free drinks and women to keep me company. Why would I refuse?”
Kang Doseok stared at the chief.
“They talked about me?”
“Yes. Tried to sound me out. Said you might become a threat to public safety in Sector F.”
The chief blew out a long stream of smoke. Kang Doseok asked, “What did you say?”
“I asked what that had to do with me.”
“...Aren’t you the district police chief?”
“I am.”
The answer nearly made Kang Doseok laugh in disbelief. Rather than hiding the corruption, the chief talked about it like something to be proud of. That sheer lack of shame was impressive.
“You’re a born civil servant. Truly outstanding.”
“Thanks for the compliment. Anyway, after seeing you today, I don’t think Cheongmyeong’s deputy guild leader was wrong.”
The chief surveyed the bodies scattered around the VIP room. Blood-soaked carpet and shattered tables filled the view.
“You certainly could become a threat to public safety.”
“So you’re going to make trouble for me?”
“No.”
The chief’s lips spread into a grin.
“I’d rather be friends.”
The chief stood up from the poker table.
“Could I have your business card?”
Kang Doseok studied the chief.
Chrome cyberware covering the jaw. An expression that hadn’t changed even after killing someone. A person who had kept puffing away on a cigarette even after losing 2 billion at the gambling table.
Corrupt, shameless, and faithful to every personal desire. Even so, the chief seemed to have firm standards.
In that case, there was just one last thing to check.
“Do you use drugs?”
“That sort of thing ruins your life.”
The chief waved the cigarette in disgust.
“I only pursue pleasures I can control. I might do everything else, but I don’t cross that line.”
“You take your share under the table, but still do your job?”
“More or less.”
The chief smiled in satisfaction.
“You’re right. I was born to be a civil servant. Not just any civil servant, though. A senior one. People like me belong in command.”
The chief held out a hand.
“Petty criminals get caught without me. Gambling dens get raided, and bodies get cleared away. That’s what my subordinates are for.”
Kang Doseok took a business card from inside his coat and tossed it over. The chief caught it in midair and continued.
“A senior police official like me has other duties. Taking your business card right now, for instance. Sss. And...”
The chief took a final drag on the cigarette. Its red tip burned down quietly.
“Laying your card beside Cheongmyeong’s on my desk and deciding which one to call. Things like that.”
The chief looked around the bloodstained VIP room.
“Petty criminals, Black Table, Selna. I don’t need to bother with trash like that. I just have to decide who gets to wield power in Sector F from now on.”
The chief grinned.
“And my personal belief is that making the right decision requires plenty of alcohol, cigarettes, and sex. Magical activities that keep the mind sharp.”
“You crazy bastard.”
“Hah!”
The chief laughed broadly. Golden light gleamed on the chrome lining his jaw.
Just then.
Crash!
The wall of glass on one side of the VIP room burst inward. Glass fragments rained onto the carpet with a fierce gust of wind.
Rrrrrrr!
Three black aerial armored vehicles hovered close to the building’s outer wall. They had neither wings nor propellers. Antigravity engines beneath their chassis poured out blue light, holding the heavy vehicles in the air.
Clack.
Troopers in black combat uniforms crossed the walkway. Bulletproof masks covered their faces, and matte chrome covered most of the skin visible below their necks.
The trooper in front slowly lowered a rifle and reported.
“Nightfall Team Four. Escort route secured.”
Kang Doseok watched them with his sword hanging at his side. Fully augmented humans, each well over 2.2 meters tall.
The counterterrorism unit of Netron City’s police special forces.
Commonly known as Nightfall.
Each combat cyborg had the fighting strength of an entire company. Deployed as a full team, they could reportedly destroy not only armed gangs but even small military bases.
The troopers split into two lines. Their black helmets bowed in unison, opening a path for the chief.
Before stepping onto that path, the chief looked back at Kang Doseok one last time.
“See you around, Kang Doseok.”
The chief walked slowly through the surrounding Nightfall troopers.
Paying no attention to the bloodstained carpet or the bodies scattered across the floor, the chief crossed the folding walkway and boarded an aerial armored vehicle, cigarette still in place.
Clack.
The vehicle’s armored door closed.
“All personnel, return.”
At the team leader’s order, the Nightfall troopers moved. The folding walkway retracted, and the three black aerial armored vehicles rose together.
Rrrrrrr!
Their huge bodies disappeared between the buildings. Only the wind kept rushing through the broken window.
Kang Doseok watched the armored vehicles recede, then sheathed his sword. The job was done. It was time for him to head back too.
* * *
By the time Kang Doseok returned to the penthouse, darkness had already settled over the entire city.
He opened the front door and went inside. After taking off his coat and tossing it onto the sofa, he headed straight for the living room window.
The shattered glass had been replaced. Kang Doseok tapped its surface with a finger.
Tok, tok.
It was perfectly intact, without a single scratch.
“They fixed it properly.”
As he sank into the sofa, the terminal on the table rang.
It was Selna.
He answered, and a voice with a mechanical edge came through the speaker.
[Finished?]
“Yes. I killed all the staff. Left the customers alone.”
[You made sure to kill Big Bess too, I assume.]
“I wasn’t the one who killed that bastard.”
[What does that mean?]
“Someone else did it for me.”
[Someone else? Who?]
Kang Doseok recalled the district police chief, who had been smoking and spouting nonsense until a short while ago.
“The police.”
The speaker fell silent.
[Did I hear that wrong?]
“The district police chief was gambling there. Said destroying Black Table would wipe out the debt from those losses, and lent a hand.”
Selna said nothing for a while. At last, a short sigh came through.
[Ha, ha. Netron City really is a wonderful place to live. Isn’t it, Kang Doseok?]
“Not really.”
Kang Doseok disagreed. He had known for a long time that Netron City was a shitty place.
[Anyway, I’ll send the remaining payment as soon as I’ve confirmed everything. Good work, Kang Doseok. I’ll be in touch.]
A little later, a deposit notification appeared on the terminal screen. Kang Doseok checked the amount.
The job was finished, and he had been paid.
[Shabel’s Storm is approaching faster than expected. It is estimated to reach Sector F in approximately five hours.]
A weather forecaster’s voice came from the television.
Once the storm began, both roads and air routes would close. He might be able to visit restaurants and shops inside the massive mixed-use complex where he lived, which housed 10,000 households, but leaving the grounds would be impossible.
That left nothing to do but sleep.
Kang Doseok rose from the sofa and started toward the bedroom, then looked out the window.
The sky above the city had turned black.
It wasn’t dark because it was night. Contamination particles covered the city like enormous black clouds. The upper floors of distant skyscrapers were already half swallowed by a sickly yellow veil.
Then the news changed.
[Meanwhile, the municipal government’s Military Intelligence Bureau has announced that it has lost track of the mutant Darkblood Warpsight, one of the Twelve Baleful Stars, which it had been monitoring by satellite.]
A satellite image appeared on the screen. Dozens of targeting reticles overlapped around a dark red shape.
[Darkblood Warpsight disappeared from the satellite surveillance network after entering the eastern contaminated zone this afternoon. The Military Intelligence Bureau believes radio interference from the storm caused the tracking signal to disappear, and is currently searching for the target...]
Listening to the news anchor’s flat voice, Kang Doseok gazed at the blackened sky for a while.
Shabel’s Storm was approaching.
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