Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 49: Puppet (3)

Rina Cortez’s air vehicle descended slowly onto the internal landing pad of the Quantum Rock facility.

Dust piled up beneath the aircraft blew out in a cloudy ring, and the landing struts came down with a dull metallic thud.

Moments later, the automatic door slid open with a soft hiss, and Rina Cortez’s sleek silhouette emerged.

The instant she stepped onto the landing platform, a foul stench assaulted her senses.

It was a revolting reek—a mix of rotting garbage, sewage, and industrial waste.

Rina wrinkled her face in visible disgust and muttered.

“A proper slum welcome.”

She pulled up the detailed map of District C-88 on her AR interface to check her current position.

Quantum Rock stood tall in the northeastern corner of Babel, right in the heart of the city’s most devastated slum.

Around the facility were abandoned buildings and grotesque heaps of trash. The streets were filthy and gloomy—practically uninhabitable.

“I don’t get why Quantum Rock would build a factory in a place like this.”

She clicked her tongue, unable to hide her discontent.

Even if the neural implant processors supplied to Hexa Core Armory had been miniaturized enough for air transport, it made zero sense to pick a location like this when factoring in security costs.

Her gaze drifted toward the tall concrete wall surrounding the factory.

Above the wall, cutting-edge surveillance cameras and automated defense systems moved constantly, scanning the area with nervous energy.

“They’re probably bleeding money just on security...”

While she was lost in thought, a man came rushing up to the rooftop landing pad.

He was middle-aged, visibly anxious, sweat soaking through his disheveled suit.

“Director Cortez!”

The man hurried toward her, panting, and held out his hand.

“I’m Michael Wright, the CEO of Quantum Rock.”

He hastily offered her a business card, but Rina took it half-heartedly and shoved it into her pocket.

Her gaze didn’t leave the man.

For some reason, just looking at him made a wave of discomfort ripple through her entire body—something she couldn’t put into words.

His excessively submissive demeanor, and the black filter obscuring his visual implants, triggered an eerie sense of dissonance.

“Give me the situation report.”

Ignoring his greeting, Rina asked coldly, her mood already soured.

Michael Wright swallowed hard and nodded.

At that moment, related data was transmitted to Rina’s AR interface.

“Of the factory’s 178 employees, 20 have been attacked. The main symptoms include heightened aggression, hallucinations, and loss of neural control. We still don’t know exactly how or where Netwitch is attacking from, but most of the incidents have occurred inside the facility.”

Rina skimmed through the incoming data.

The attached images showed employees with glowing orange eyes, convulsing like they were in seizures.

Some were breaking their own fingers, others were slamming their heads into walls.

“We need to check the victims first.”

Michael let out a sigh of relief and began guiding her.

“All the victims have been quarantined in the medical center. This way, please.”

Rina followed him down a steel staircase running along the exterior of the building.

Beyond the metal railing, she could see the entire factory complex.

The sprawling site was completely empty—no people in sight, no machines running.

It looked like an abandoned factory.

“Is it always this deserted?”

She asked, suspicious.

Michael looked flustered as he replied.

“Due to the Netwitch attacks, all employees are staying indoors.”

The moment Rina heard that, her suspicion multiplied tenfold.

All the cyber attacks had occurred inside the building—yet the employees were staying inside?

That didn’t add up.

Without another word, Rina veered away from the CEO and strode toward the door leading into the building from the stairwell.

“Director Cortez! That area is—!”

Michael called out in panic, but Rina had already flung the door open.

The scene beyond left her speechless.

Exactly 177 employees stood inside the massive factory hall.

Lined up in perfect rows with not the slightest twitch—like they’d been measured out by a ruler.

As Rina stood at the threshold, trying ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) to make sense of it, the CEO caught up with her, panting.

For a brief moment, he looked stunned—then his face hardened into a cold mask.

And in that instant, all the employees moved.

As if receiving a single command, they surged toward Rina as one.

The sight of more than a hundred people charging at once looked like a massive, crashing wave.

But Rina Cortez’s expression remained eerily calm.

Smiling faintly, she drew a black wire from her wrist.

The wire, now laced with a faint red glow, cut through the air—and through the employees—with ruthless precision.

Every swing of her hand unleashed crimson shockwaves. The bodies charging toward her were cleanly sliced in half.

The wire cut like a thermal blade, severing everything in its path. None of them even got close.

In seconds, the factory floor was drenched in blood.

Once the slaughter ended, Rina stood soaked in gore and walked slowly toward the CEO.

Michael Wright had already retreated to a dark corner of the building.

His face held both terror—and a strange glimmer of awe.

“Strange. A partner company’s CEO should have at least known how dangerous I am...”

She muttered under her breath, then stepped closer and asked:

“Who the hell are you?”

But the CEO just backed away in fear, unable to answer.

As Rina followed him into a narrow corridor stacked with materials, a sudden burst of orange shockwaves erupted on both sides.

The waves slammed into her body, making her stumble.

“Ugh!”

She groaned, dropping to one knee.

Dizziness overwhelmed her, but with the last of her strength, she lashed out with the red wire.

It sliced clean through the CEO’s waist—Michael Wright’s upper and lower body separated with surgical precision.

And yet, bizarrely, a twisted grin spread across his face.

Even as his blood spread in a red pool, he was still smiling.

Rina collapsed from the intense dizziness and lost consciousness.

How much time passed?

Her fingers twitched.

She slowly pushed herself up.

But something was off about her movements—like her body was being controlled by strings.

Like a puppet.

“Lucky me. I wanted to try this out on a Megacorp employee anyway.”

A voice not her own came from Rina’s lips, and an orange glow flickered in her optical implants.

She picked up the red sunglasses from the floor and hurriedly put them back on.

As if trying to hide it.

****

Back at the car, as soon as we left Mouse’s place, Blake’s face changed.

The friendly expression he’d had while talking to Mouse was gone—only a cold, sharp look remained.

He started the engine, his voice turning grave.

“Mouse can’t be trusted anymore.”

‘?’

He drove slowly into the dark alleys of the slum and kept talking.

“Mouse already told William and me about the disease. But today, he acted like it was the first time.”

I looked over at him and asked:

“Right. You said clearing William’s name was your main goal. You should probably explain that.”

Blake let out a deep sigh.

“William and I were investigating a series of strange incidents in C-88.”

“At first, we thought it was a new drug or implant malfunction. But as the victim count rose, a pattern emerged.”

“Unidentified disease. Extreme aggression. Memory loss. Behavior like a completely different person. And the orange glow in their ocular implants.”

“We were getting close. Just a bit more, and I think we would've uncovered that organization.”

His face twisted in pain for a moment.

“But just before that...”

“William was found dead in his apartment. Shot. And they found a mountain of ‘evidence’ in his room.”

Blake’s voice hardened with fury.

“Everything pointed to him as the prime suspect behind the slum cases—doctored footage, forged reports, even personal items from the infected victims.”

“So that’s how the case got closed, huh.”

“Yeah. HQ shut the investigation down immediately.”

Blake gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“But William wasn’t like that. I know he was framed—by that unknown organization.”

He paused, then continued:

“That’s why I came to you.”

The car crept forward beneath a faded streetlight.

“Considering Mouse’s orange-tinted eyes and erratic behavior, there’s a high chance the Quantum Rock factory lead is a trap—just like with William.”

Blake shook his head slowly.

“I suppose we’ll have to start wandering the slums again looking for a new informant. Honestly, it’s like starting over from scratch...”

His voice trailed off.

His face was full of disappointment and frustration.

I fell into thought for a moment.

Then I offered the simplest solution.

“Let’s go to the Quantum Rock factory.”

Blake turned to me with a surprised look.

I looked right back at his confused expression and repeated myself.

“Even if it’s a trap, I don’t care. I can smash any trap to pieces. And if it is a trap, there’s bound to be some useful clue left behind.”

Blake hesitated briefly, then slowly nodded.

“Alright... then let’s head to the Quantum Rock facility in Eastern C-88.”

The car turned toward the deepest part of the slums, where the Quantum Rock factory stood.

After navigating the broken roads with Blake, we finally arrived at the factory.

The structure towered in the middle of what looked like a ruin—but unlike its surroundings, it was fortified with heavy-duty security systems.

“With security like this, it really is a supplier for Hexa Core Armory.”

I muttered while walking along the concrete wall.

The barrier surrounding the facility was as tall as a multi-story building. Surveillance cameras and automated defense systems lined the top.

But something was off—every single CCTV camera was powered down, their heads slumped.

Scanning the area, I turned to Blake.

“I’ll head in first and open the door from inside. Wait here.”

Blake looked hesitant for a second but nodded in agreement.

I slowly approached the factory wall and picked up the Mecha-Agwi-Pizza that had been wandering nearby.

I gripped Agwi in my hands and started stretching it like dough.

Folding and pulling, over and over again, like a knife-cut noodle master.

“Kyuhinghing.”

Agwi let out a distressed whimper each time it was stretched.

Once I’d lengthened Agwi to the right size, I aimed for the pipe sticking out from the wall.

That was my target.

“Fly, Agwi!”

I hurled it with all my strength, and Agwi’s cry echoed, distorted through the air.

“Kyuuu–hing–hing—”

Then, like a living creature, it twisted in mid-air and wrapped itself around the pipe.

I ignored the message flashing on Agwi’s belly and grabbed the other end, pulling it taut to make sure the knot was tight.

It held firm—didn’t budge at all when I tugged.

I was just about to climb up using Agwi when I suddenly remembered something.

The shadow-travel ability I’d gotten from that Titan Tech prototype!

“Oh. Right.”

I focused on the shadow cast on the wall—and my body slowly melted into it.

The next instant, I was standing on top of the wall.

Agwi was still hanging onto the pipe, crying even more pitifully now.

“Kyuhinghing...”

Looking down from the wall, the interior of the factory was completely empty.

Massive buildings were laid out in perfect order, but there wasn’t a single sign of life.

****

Near the cold concrete wall surrounding the facility, the main gate began to open with a heavy mechanical sound.

Blake stepped cautiously through the gate, scanning the area.

A strange stillness greeted him.

There wasn’t any immediate sense of danger, but his instincts screamed that something was wrong.

His face darkened as he reviewed the BPD internal data on his display.

“According to the records, there should be 178 employees here...”

The space, which should have been full of busy workers and machine noise, was oppressively silent.

It was the kind of silence you just don’t find in commercial facilities.

A was slightly ahead of Blake, examining the interior of the factory.

Her nose wrinkled slightly.

“Something smells off.”

Then, A suddenly broke into a run.

Her lithe movements were like a predator chasing prey.

“Miss A, wait!”

Blake shouted, but A was already sprinting toward the central building.

“Blood.”

Her low voice carried back to him on the wind.

The metal doors of the building opened—and a thick darkness swallowed the light.

The soft blue glow spilling from A’s coat gradually lit the interior, revealing the horrors hidden in the dark.

Corpses.

Dozens of bodies laid out across the floor like some neatly arranged exhibit.

Each had been cleanly cut—clear signs of a sharp-edged weapon.

The blood that had pooled around them was already dried into dark stains.

A moved through the grisly scene, seemingly searching for something.

Blake, face grim, reopened his AR interface.

With trembling fingers, he began matching each corpse’s face against the database photos.

“These are...”

His face went pale.

“They’re all Quantum Rock employees...”

Before he could even finish his sentence, a sudden siren tore through the air.

The dispatch alarm of the Babel Police Department—loud, and far too close.

Blake’s face changed in an instant.

Shock, fury, resignation—all passed across his face.

“Shit... It was a trap.”

He clenched his fist.

Then, with a look of resolve, he spoke.

“I’ll go to the front gate and buy us some time. Miss A—escape over the wall and continue the investigation. You’re the only one who can clear William’s name now.”

But contrary to his expectations, a calm smile spread across A’s face.

“It’s fine. No problem.”

Her voice was incredibly steady.

Like she’d done this before.

At that moment, something strange started happening beneath A’s feet.

It began as a small shadow—but it grew wider and wider, stretching toward Blake in an instant.