Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 105: Strangeness (4)
Beneath the sky of Dreamland, where gray auroras danced ominously, Dominic Krilov was issuing rapid-fire commands through his AR interface, fighting to maintain control.
[Unit 3, attack from 7 o’clock.]
[Unit 7, recharge and return to the front line.]
The Paradigm Directive prototypes followed Dominic’s orders with precision and coordination—but the enemy they faced defied reason.
Thousands of eyeballs swarmed through the sky like a hive of bees.
Each eye wept blood. Whenever shadows pierced them, bursts echoed through the air—but it was only ever temporary.
The ruptured eyes snapped back into perfect shape as though time had reversed itself.
Seeing them regenerate flawlessly without a single wound was outright terrifying.
The prototypes’ shadows had formed a massive dome.
A writhing black veil repelled the eyeballs’ shutter attacks like a living organism—but even that had its limits.
Even rotating through shifts to conserve energy, the total energy required to maintain the shadows continued to drain.
“At this rate, we won’t last thirty minutes.”
Dominic assessed the situation coldly.
His ocular implant was harvesting battlefield data in real time, calculating the optimal escape route.
Hundreds of simulations flashed through his mind, and one emerged as the most realistic choice.
Analysis of the eyeballs’ movement patterns showed that they were deliberately blocking movement in a specific direction.
Paradoxically, that blockage also hinted at the location of an exit.
Considering the Aberration traits of this Dreamland—luring prey into traps—it was highly likely that area was the sole exit.
[All units, prepare to move toward 10 o’clock!]
But just as Dominic gave the order, something unexpected happened.
A massive form surged up from the shadows.
It resembled a human hand—only dozens of times larger than normal.
The gigantic hand swept the air without hesitation, grabbing a handful of eyeballs.
Then it dragged them straight back into the shadows.
Crunch. Crunch.
A horrible chewing sound echoed from within the shadow.
The noise was physically uncanny.
Eyeball implants flying through the sky weren’t made of material that should produce such a sound.
It was like chewing rocks and hearing it while eating pudding.
Once the chewing stopped, the giant being burst out of the shadows.
It looked like a child—but its sheer scale and presence were overwhelming.
Like watching a whole skyscraper get up and move.
The mouth, filled with jagged teeth, kept devouring eyeballs nonstop, while its amorphous, liquid-like body seemed to distort space itself.
“...That’s...”
A breath of stunned awe slipped from Dominic’s lips.
The immortal eyeballs, which had been giving them such trouble, now scattered like a frightened school of fish.
The roles of hunter and prey had completely reversed.
Every time the giant child swiped its hand through the air, space buckled and warped.
A powerful gravitational force yanked retreating eyeballs back in, leaving them no chance to resist before they vanished into its gaping maw.
“Eat them all. Every last one.”
A watched the giant child with a relaxed expression, cheering it on.
[Hurray!]
[So big!]
The other children nearby jumped up and down, cheering for the giant child just like A.
Dominic watched the scene unfold, conflicted.
He had always known A was special—but he had never imagined she possessed this kind of power.
He ordered the prototypes to cease fire.
The battle was effectively over.
All that remained was to escape this bizarre space.
****
What happened in Dreamland wrapped up rather satisfyingly.
There hadn’t been a fluorescent Tyrannosaurus like she’d hoped, but a new ability had been gained in its place.
And since this new ability involved using the children, it was surprisingly convenient.
Auto-hunting, basically!
Lately, Babel was growing weirder by the day.
Helping Dominic deal with various Aberrations had made one thing clear: creatures like fluorescent lizards and winged tigers were quickly becoming part of everyday life.
“Maybe coexisting with these freak creatures is the new normal now...”
Thinking that, A strolled down a corridor in Dino Park—a place that had changed completely.
It used to be a gloomy space, thick with dust and utterly lifeless. But now it looked like a newly constructed building.
The walls gleamed. The floor was clear as glass. Even the air felt fresh.
And the ones responsible for all this change were the children.
[Cleaning!]
[Dust here!]
[And there too!]
Excited voices echoed from down the corridor.
Small bodies zipped around, scrubbing with rags and swinging dusters.
One child had formed a human pyramid with friends to reach a high-up spot, while others dashed around with water buckets, splashing as they went.
Even cleaning had become a game for them.
Every surface the children touched was left spotless. Even those hard-to-reach corners were perfectly cleaned.
“Really hardworking little things.”
Smiling, A entered the lounge—and tilted her head at the unexpected sight.
“?”
A small Water Pig was sprawled out on the table watching TV.
At first, she thought one of the kids had made a Water Pig model, so she gave it a light press.
Gyuu.
“!”
That familiar soft, springy texture. That irresistible cry that made you want to squeeze it till it squealed.
It was definitely the real Water Pig.
“Why did it shrink?”
She kept pressing its back while mulling it over—and soon reached the obvious conclusion.
Big or small, Water Pig was still Water Pig.
In fact, being tiny somehow made it even cuter.
She picked up the little Water Pig in her hand and began squishing it.
“Gyuu gyuu.”
“Gyuiing.”
The pitch of its squeals changed depending on how hard and how long she pressed, like a living instrument—it was unexpectedly entertaining.
She was just starting to play a rhythm on Water Pig when the TV suddenly cut to a familiar sight.
The giant child bursting from the shadows, roaring with a “RAAAWR!”
[It’s out!]
[Heehee!]
[So big!]
Maybe that’s why all the children who had been lounging around the lounge scrambled toward the TV at once.
They were as delighted as if they themselves were the ones appearing on screen.
Having helped Dominic so many times, maybe they'd been filmed somewhere without noticing...
Then again, the scene of the Giant Water Pig Child appearing and devouring Aberrations was shocking and sensational enough that no broadcasting network would just let it slide.
As A reached out to change the channel, a flurry of photos spilled out from her sleeve again.
She opened them one by one—each photo featuring children posing in all sorts of ways.
One flashed a big smile and made a V-sign, another crossed their arms with a serious expression, and one even did a handstand.
...
Their photo-hiding skills had reached actual ninja levels.
To sneak in this many photos in just a few moments...
As A gathered and sorted the photos one by one, a black figure flicked past the edge of her vision at high speed.
“?”
****
The Nexus Node HQ, rising tall at the heart of Babel.
Once the nerve center through which all of Babel’s information flowed, its prestige had now significantly declined.
But inside, the building was still abuzz.
Dozens of employees, all looking exhausted, manipulated their AR interfaces from their desks.
“Channel 47, 'Urban Legends Mystery' program blocked successfully.”
“Deleting eyewitness posts about fluorescent rabbits on BabelTube.”
“Restricted searches on hashtags related to anomalous creatures.”
Their goal was singular: to control and manipulate information across Babel.
“This never ends...”
One employee groaned, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.
His holographic screen displayed nonstop updates about Aberration-related incidents erupting across Babel.
It had all started with Lex Chroma’s final broadcast.
After that shocking event, monsters with similar properties had begun to emerge all over Babel, like some kind of viral outbreak.
It wasn’t coincidence.
Urban legends, strange incidents, even provocative novels and films—
There was a clear correlation between the spread of information and the appearance of Aberrations.
The Nexus Node’s statistical analysis team had realized this early on, but it wasn’t taken as fact until the Lex Chroma incident confirmed it.
Since then, under orders from the megacorp alliance, Nexus Node began rigorously monitoring and manipulating both ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) television broadcasts and the internet.
As reports flooded in from every direction, the middle-aged man sitting at the head of the team sighed deeply.
Robert Chen—the senior manager of the Information Control Team.
Stacks of reports were piled high on his desk. At the top was a document titled: “Post-Lex Chroma Incident: Anomalous Creature Occurrence Rate Analysis.”
“Boss, coffee?”
His deputy offered him a steaming mug.
Robert nodded gratefully and took a sip.
The bitterness spread across his tongue—but even that was a kind of stimulant that helped him stay alert.
Just then, the main screen in the Information Control Room lit up with breaking news.
[Breaking: Giant fluorescent spider appears in Babel East Commercial District – Civilian evacuation order issued]
Footage showed a building-sized neon-green spider stalking the streets.
As soon as the broadcast aired, alarm sirens began blaring throughout the control room.
“Social media view counts are skyrocketing!”
“AR platforms have begun streaming it live!”
“Millions are already watching!”
Robert shot to his feet.
“Shut it down! Block it immediately on all channels, all platforms!”
But the footage spread through the network like a living organism.
Block one, and two more appeared. Block two, and four would take its place.
“We’re short on personnel!”
An employee cried out in despair.
And it was true.
The Nexus Node, which once housed thousands of staff, now had only a few hundred left.
A past incident and pressure from competitors had driven away much of their talent—and it was a miracle they could still manage Babel’s information at all with the remaining team and infrastructure.
“The Jinlong Surveillance Team is requesting support. What should we do?”
A junior employee asked cautiously.
Most of the special unit monitoring Jinlong Technologies 24/7 had already been reassigned to information control.
A flicker of hesitation passed across Robert’s face.
He knew better than anyone just how dangerous Jinlong was.
But the immediate crisis in front of him took priority.
“...Jinlong’s been holed up at HQ for half a year now. We can afford to reduce the monitors a little.”
“But sir, in movies, whenever surveillance slips like this, something really bad always—”
Robert waved the nervous rookie quiet with a sharp gesture.
“Movies are just movies. And besides, Hexa Core Armory and Paradigm Directive are putting together their own response systems. We just need to hold out for a week!”
As he spoke, another breaking news alert popped up on the screen.
[Urgent: Transparent gorilla sighted in Babel West – Citizens in state of panic]
The control room fell into chaos again.
The night in Babel was growing ever darker.
And throughout the city, new anomalous creatures were beginning to appear—one by one.
The employees of Nexus Node had no choice but to continue their exhausting battle through another sleepless night.
