Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 23: The Twisted Nether-Agu
The glass door of Black Bio Pizza – Burning Duct branch slowly began to reflect the morning sunlight.
Warm rays spilled into the store, washing over the white-tiled floor with a gentle glow.
Tony, the pizza shop owner, sat behind the counter, glancing occasionally at the small TV screen.
The anchor on screen delivered the news with a beaming smile.
[The Black Bio Plant occupation, which lasted over ten days, was resolved yesterday.]
[With production resuming, food prices are expected to stabilize soon.]
[Popular Black Bio products will begin distribution to stores starting today....]
Watching the report, Tony let out a half-skeptical mutter.
"Don’t tell me that pizza maniac had anything to do with this?"
"Come on. No way. You really think one person could do something like that in a situation with two megacorps involved?"
Niki, Tony’s part-timer, shook her head like the idea was completely ridiculous.
And of course, it was.
But Tony... couldn't shake the feeling that it might be true.
The memory from last night surfaced in his mind.
Right before the Black Bio news hit the airwaves. Late night.
The streets were dark. And beyond the store’s glass window—those glowing blue eyes.
Standing in front of the closed door, silently staring inside... that pizza maniac.
Looking back now, the timing lined up almost too perfectly.
Like the lunatic had solved the whole plant crisis, then stopped by just to admire the place.
But the moment Tony blinked, the figure vanished—so Niki never saw it.
“...Could it be....”
Tony murmured.
“Huh?”
“Nah. Never mind.”
He shook off the impossible thought.
Because if that pizza-crazed freak really could take down megacorps... that was way too terrifying to even consider.
“Boss! The delivery truck’s here!”
Niki’s shout snapped Tony back to reality. She was mopping the floor near the door.
He quickly stepped out from behind the counter and headed toward the back door.
A truck marked with the Black Bio logo was parked behind the store.
The delivery driver climbed out of the cab, looking half-asleep, and yanked open the cargo doors.
“You’re early today.”
Tony gave a casual greeting to the familiar driver, who just shrugged.
“The plant kicked back into gear outta nowhere. No warning. Whole city’s in a frenzy. Here, sign this.”
Tony signed the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ pad and began unloading the boxes with Niki.
Once the truck pulled away, the two of them unpacked the delivery in front of the walk-in freezer.
Tony checked the ingredients. Same quality as before the occupation.
The only difference was a small price hike—probably due to the chaos.
As they neatly stacked the pizza supplies inside the freezer, a loud alarm suddenly blared.
BEEEEEEEP!
A sound more suited for an emergency bunker than a pizza shop.
“Tony, seriously! Can we please change that stupid alarm? It scares the crap outta the dine-in customers!”
Niki covered her ears and glared at the obnoxious alarm bell that went off more than ten times a day.
“Absolutely not.”
Tony shook his head with a dead-serious look and checked the incoming order location.
“...It’s here.”
He muttered under his breath, like he’d been waiting for it.
The order came from the abandoned factory district—just past the Burning Duct.
It was his order.
The pizza maniac’s.
As if he’d been watching the moment ingredients arrived—right on cue.
“Niki. Special order.”
He said it like it was a ritual.
Then slowly, almost reverently, began preparing the pizza—rolling out the dough, spreading the sauce, layering cheese and pepperoni.
Just like that, life at Black Bio Pizza – Burning Duct branch had returned to normal.
****
In my cozy one-room apartment, I was rolling around like a puppy.
From one end of the bed to the other—and back again.
Until it arrived, the thing I’d been waiting for more than anything, I had to distract myself somehow. So I just kept rolling.
“Nnngghhh...”
A low groan escaped my mouth without me meaning to. It filled the tiny room.
It had already been ten minutes. Still no delivery.
They said the Black Bio plant issue was resolved, but clearly things weren’t fully back to normal if delivery was still taking this long.
On TV, the usual noisy news reports droned on.
In front of the screen, “I” waved their hand at the remote.
Trying to press the buttons.
But “I” had no physical form—so pressing buttons was out of the question.
[Hnnng....]
They pouted and stretched toward the remote again, undeterred.
Kyuhihi.
Next to them, Mecha-Agu let out a smug little kyuhihi and grinned.
Unlike “I,” Agu could press the buttons—and he made sure to rub it in.
“Agu, stop showing off.”
I muttered.
Agu glanced at me, then gleefully started smashing the remote even faster.
The channels flipped wildly. The screen kept flickering.
God, he was annoying enough to make me want to chew on his belly circuits.
Maybe Agu noticed the look on my face, because before I could split his skull in two, he wisely sat his butt down and behaved.
And then—
Ding-dong.
At last—the sound I’d been waiting for.
I shot up from the bed and dashed to the window.
When I slid it open, there it was on the drone landing pad—a warm, steaming pizza box.
“Pizza!”
Even the heat radiating through the box made my heart race.
I brought it inside and gently placed it on the bed.
“Finally...”
Like a treasure hunter who’d uncovered a lost relic, I opened the lid with reverence.
The scent of cheese and pepperoni filled the entire room.
I picked up a slice and took a bite.
Nom nom.
“As expected... it’s delicious.”
It’d been a while since I’d had pizza—and god, it was good.
As I slowly savored each bite, thoughts of the recent incident came creeping back.
Specifically, the connection between this body and the megacorps’ new technology.
Strangely, just seeing the tech had been enough for me to copy it.
Why was that?
...I had no idea.
I decided I’d think about it more if something similar happened again, and turned my gaze toward the ceiling.
It was a habit by now—and right there in my line of sight was something familiar.
Big, bold letters scrawled across the ceiling with a memo app—so I’d never forget.
Because when it came to anything not related to pizza, I forgot stuff real fast.
<Scarlet>
Thanks to this obsessive effort, I’d managed to pass on Scarlet’s message to Amber without screwing it up.
Scarlet had wanted to send a job request through me. Said some suspicious people had been showing up near the Burning Duct.
Sadly, Amber didn’t seem to appreciate the sheer magnitude of my achievement.
I thought she’d at least toss me a free pizza...
“Ah, those guys. Yeah, I’ve spotted them a few times. Not gang, not corp—just... something else.”
When Amber heard the story, she murmured to herself, slowly nodding like something had finally clicked.
That look on her face—like a puzzle piece had snapped into place.
“Got it. I’ll look into it more myself. I’ll reach out to Scarlet too.”
That’s what she’d said. Then, like she’d just remembered, she handed me a metal business card.
I took it out from my pocket again now.
Thin, but with a solid, weighted feel.
Way heavier than the cheap steel people used these days—back in the day, business elites had their cards made from this stuff.
Said the weight gave it a kind of “flavor.”
The surface was engraved with old-fashioned print—name and contact info etched with precision.
It was the business card of the client who’d submitted a direct request for me.
<Melton Pitt>
<Market Commerce Street Specialist>
<Wilson Bridge>
Just from the card, it was obvious this Wilson guy was some lower-level grunt at Melton Pitt.
His job title sounded fancy, but it screamed door-to-door street vendor more than anything else.
Amber had said I didn’t have to take the request right away, but it didn’t seem all that difficult, so I figured I might as well.
The only surprising part... was the client himself.
Wilson turned out to be seriously impatient. The moment I said I’d take the job, he locked in a meeting right away.
Oddly enough, he insisted on meeting in person before making the request official.
Maybe he was another analog freak like Amber?
“The meeting’s today, isn’t it...?”
If I left right after finishing the pizza, I’d make it just in time.
I turned my head—and saw “I” sticking their face in and out of Agu’s chubby belly like a child digging into a couch cushion.
What the hell were they doing?
Agu looked just as confused as I felt.
“I” had a habit of doing things that made absolutely no sense.
As I watched their weird little ritual, I realized there was only one slice of pizza left.
“No...”
With a tragic expression, I picked up the final piece.
And then—
“Kyu-hing-hing.”
Agu let out a pained cry.
I turned toward him and saw...
A massive, distorted child’s head.
A low, sorrowful sound leaking from its body.
And flashing continuously on its side—HELP.
There it was.
The Twisted Nether-Agu had returned.
Visit fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce.
