Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 14: Heart Drill (5)
The Concrete Family boss, completely unhinged, kept charging at me.
"Implants... All fake... Everyone's dead, but pretending to be alive...."
He kept mumbling to himself.
His eyes were unfocused, yet his fists flew toward me with perfect accuracy.
"Annoying."
While dodging, I muttered under my breath and reattached my severed arm.
The real problem was the red, circuit-like energy constantly flowing from his body.
If I punched him, my fist melted.
If I blocked, my arms burned away.
Complete nonsense.
That left me with only one option—
Dodge.
Whoosh.
His fist cut through the air.
I twisted my body at the last second, barely avoiding it.
Where his punch had passed, the air shimmered as if it had been burned.
Boom!
His foot stomped the ground, launching him toward me.
Anticipating his move, I dove to the side.
His punch smashed into the spot where I had just been standing, sending cracks spider-webbing across the concrete.
The more time passed, the more relaxed I became.
I was getting used to his attack patterns.
Driven by madness, the boss wasn't using any complex combat techniques.
He was fast, sure—but not impossible to dodge.
Is his energy slowly depleting?
While continuing to evade, I kept thinking of ways to deal with this monster.
Then, suddenly—
I noticed something about the flow of energy around his body.
...?
The sight of it made me feel a strange tingling sensation.
Something unfamiliar, yet instinctively recognizable.
It was as if I had known how to do it all along.
"Ah, so that's how you can circulate energy."
The swirling ring of red energy in his hollowed-out chest—
It absorbed the surrounding energy, accelerating its own rotation.
And from that ring, power surged outward.
The red energy spiraled, devouring everything nearby and converting it into something even stronger before releasing it again.
The flow of energy—
It felt artificially designed.
Like an intricate machine crafted from thousands of tiny gears.
But something about it was off.
It wasn’t operating at full efficiency.
Like an ill-fitting suit, mismatched with its wearer.
If this guy weren’t completely insane, I would’ve been tempted to say, “That’s not how you use energy, dumbass.”
Then, a thought crossed my mind.
Could I... do that too?
The moment the idea formed, the blue energy coursing through my body responded.
What usually just flowed through me like circuitry—
Now, it moved according to my will.
Instinctively, I began gathering energy toward my heart.
It felt natural.
Like I had been doing this my whole life.
Crackle.
As the energy started spinning, I felt a slight pain in my chest.
A sensation like my skin was being melted away—
But I got used to it quickly.
A glowing blue ring ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) slowly emerged in the center of my chest.
At first, it was just a faint strand of light—
But it grew, intensifying into a bright, burning radiance.
It was so vivid that even through my black coat, it shone through.
Seeing the energy pouring into my limbs, I couldn’t help but smirk.
"Looks like we’re on even ground now, old man."
****
The blue ring in my chest blazed with intense light.
Even against the black fabric of my coat, it gleamed faintly.
The energy surging into my limbs burned like blue flames.
The Concrete Family boss didn’t stop.
From the gaping hole in his chest, red energy spiraled into a vortex.
And then—
His fist flew toward me again.
I heard the rush of air as his punch sliced through it.
Normally, I would have kept my distance—dodging and avoiding him at all costs.
But this time was different.
Because now, I had a ring of my own.
Instead of backing away, I rushed forward—meeting his attack head-on.
With one hand, I caught his fist.
A shockwave exploded outward.
Like two different-colored inks blending together, blue and red energy spiraled, swirling as they dissipated into nothing.
It was dangerous, violent—
Yet oddly beautiful.
Then, smoothly redirecting his punch to the side, I lifted my left leg high.
The blue energy burning at my foot flared even brighter.
Swoosh.
A perfectly extended high kick—
My foot smashed into his jaw.
The boss staggered backward, nearly toppling over—
But no real damage.
Instead, the circuits on his body glowed an even deeper red, forcing back my blue flames.
"Hmph."
I dusted off the lingering red energy clinging to me, frowning slightly.
How much longer was this going to take?
The fight was one-sided.
The boss’s movements were predictable now.
I could read every single one of his attacks.
But I couldn’t finish him off.
My strikes weren’t piercing through his red energy.
It looked like I was chipping away at it, bit by bit—
But at this rate, it would take an eternity to bring him down.
Still, I had no other choice.
So, I kept hitting him.
Thud. Thud.
Left ribs.
Right shoulder.
Under the chin.
Straight to the chest—
I struck every inch of his body.
But—
The boss was changing.
At first, he had been mumbling incoherent nonsense.
Now, he was silent.
The only sound escaping him was his ragged breathing.
Like a beast that had forgotten how to speak.
Dawn was approaching.
The sky was growing lighter—
And so was my patience.
...I want pizza.
How long was this going to take?
Then—
Out of the corner of my vision, I saw something faint.
A small, girl-like figure.
???
It was unmistakable.
The AI I had seen inside the Assimilation Zone.
Somehow, impossibly—
It had appeared here, in the heart of the Concrete Family’s base.
Why is the AI here?
A deeply logical and ominous thought passed through my mind.
Had I gone insane, just like the others who used Heart Drill?
Was I hallucinating?
I tried to ignore its presence.
I focused on the fight, acting as if I couldn’t see it.
Even when I blinked several times, the AI didn’t disappear.
The only thing that changed was its behavior.
Noticing that I was ignoring it, the AI pouted—then swung a tiny fist at my face.
Thump. Thump.
The hallucination was now reacting to my actions.
That meant one thing—
I had really lost my mind.
Should I shut down the ring now?
But if I do, I won’t be able to fight properly...
As I hesitated, the AI let out a deep sigh.
Then, just like in the Assimilation Zone—
It extended one of its hands, reshaping it into a long, blade-like form.
The moment it did, my body reacted.
My right arm lengthened, transforming into a massive, blue-glowing blade.
As if the AI was guiding me.
A blade covered in tightly woven circuits, pulsing with energy.
The sheer power within it was undeniable.
The denser the circuits, the stronger the energy flow.
But my expression darkened.
Because now, the hallucination wasn’t just distorting my perception—
It was affecting my body.
What do I do? Do I shut down the ring?
Would that even bring me back to normal?
This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.
Instead of using the blade, I fought with my remaining limbs.
It was a more difficult battle, but I kept going.
And then—
A ridiculous thought crossed my mind.
If only this blade were real.
That’s what I thought.
If I hadn’t lost my mind—if this hallucination wasn’t just an illusion—
Then this blade held actual power.
And if it did—
I could end this fight in an instant.
The boss charged at me again.
If it’s just a hallucination anyway...
Half-joking, I swung my blade-arm.
Slice.
"...Huh?"
I dumbly stared at the boss’s head—
Slowly falling through the air.
Hexa Core Armory Headquarters: The Citadel
As dawn painted the sky in deep blue, the headquarters of Hexa Core Armory—The Citadel—remained eerily silent.
While the rest of Babel City drowned in neon lights, this place maintained absolute restraint.
A fortress of cold metal and concrete, cutting itself off from the chaos of the outside world.
82nd floor. Special Projects Division.
Rina Cortez had been at her desk for 48 hours straight.
Ampoules of stimulants littered her workstation, along with empty nutrient supplement packages.
Three massive holographic monitors hovered before her, each constantly updating with streams of data.
At the top of the central screen, glowing red letters read:
CIRCLE PROJECT
Circle Stabilization Experiment Results - Gang Subject ProgressCircle Project Public Release Schedule - Corporate External AnnouncementOptimization of Circle Using Gang Data - Field Data AnalysisCircle Compatibility Expansion - Implant Adaptation RateCircle Energy Circulation System Improvements - Version 4.8Idly, Rina scrolled through the reports.
The stimulant patch on the back of her neck pulsed with soft blue light—
Administering another controlled dose of wakefulness-enhancing drugs.
"The test subjects are proceeding as expected..."
She muttered, checking the gang data.
BEEP!
A sharp alarm rang from her rightmost monitor.
Rina’s eyes snapped toward it.
The name Concrete Family blinked red on the screen.
Beneath it, a message appeared:
SUBJECT SIGNAL LOST.
"What...?"
Her brows furrowed.
The Concrete Family was one of the core test groups for the Circle Project.
Its boss, Conrad, had undergone a direct experimental Circle installation.
According to the calculations, he should have had at least two more days left.
Rina tapped the screen, pulling up the details.
Concrete Family Boss: Conrad
Circle Installation - Modified Version 3.7.2Biological Signal: NONELast Transmission Time: 03:42:17"No, this doesn’t make sense."
She pointed at the timestamp.
Conrad’s vitals had ceased only seventeen minutes ago.
That was... impossible.
All simulations projected a minimum survival time of 47 hours.
Rina shot up from her chair.
Did someone interfere?
Or was there a fundamental flaw in the Circle itself?
She took a deep breath, organizing her thoughts.
There were only two possibilities.
Someone had attacked the Concrete Family—
Or the Circle had a critical stability failure.
Either way, she needed to see the site herself.
"VERA, prepare my vehicle. I’m leaving now."
The AI assistant in the office responded in a smooth, mechanical voice.
"Rina, exceeding 36 consecutive hours of work is against company recommendations. Should I call for a replacement?"
"I’m still within the acceptable limit. Just get the vehicle ready."
As she finalized her preparations, she opened a drawer—
And pulled out a pair of custom-made red sunglasses.
