Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 77: Rina Cortez (7)

The battle was over.

The underground chamber was now filled with a thick haze of dust and acrid smoke.

Debris large and small lay scattered across the floor, bearing silent testament to the ferocity of the clash.

Hector looked down at what remained of his left hand—melted by the gray-white flame.

Sparks flickered weakly from the misshapen hunk of metal, its structure too warped to even resemble a hand.

With a mechanical hiss, he furrowed his brow and detached the ruined arm.

The heavy steel limb hit the ground with a dull, resounding thud.

His crimson mechanical eyes slowly turned toward what was left of Rina Cortez.

Once the head of Special Projects at Hexa Core Armory, she was now just a mangled, barely recognizable husk.

Her upper and lower halves were completely severed, and even the flesh that remained had been eaten away, as if gnawed by worms—corroded beyond recognition.

It was hard to believe that only recently, this woman had been fighting for dominance over Hexa Core Armory, locked in brutal conflict with him—no, with the entire Ludwig faction.

If this changes even a little of the course of Hexa Core Armory’s civil war, then good.

Hector thought to himself.

Rina Cortez had been a core pillar of the Reinhardt faction. Her absence would deal them a significant blow.

But Hector didn’t delude himself into thinking her death would bring the chaos to an end.

Reinhardt wasn’t some incompetent fool.

As he stood there staring at Rina’s remains, his expression slowly darkened.

A memory resurfaced—Rina’s demeanor in her final moments.

Her disdain toward all humans in Babel.

That twisted sense of superiority, as though all humans existed solely to serve them.

It all felt far too familiar.

Like a wraith...

The memories of that hellish war fifty years ago came surging back.

Their eyes. Their arrogance. That sickening, inexplicable pressure they gave off.

Rina Cortez had resembled those wraiths far too closely.

No way... it can’t be.

Hector slowly shook his head, trying to dismiss the thought.

But just then—

A figure dropped down from the massive hole in the collapsed ceiling.

She landed gently, like a falling feather.

And then, a familiar—but strangely altered—voice rang through the chamber:

“This body has arrived!”

White hair fluttering around her, A stood tall.

She casually scanned the ruined chamber, then bounded over the debris toward Hector with a cheerful bounce.

The moment Hector laid eyes on her, he felt his entire body go taut.

The presence that radiated from the small girl in front of him was overwhelming—far beyond what it had been the last time they met.

It felt like he was surrounded by a pack of enormous dinosaurs, all looming over him with suffocating pressure.

He didn’t know why dinosaurs came to mind—but his instincts screamed it all the same.

And maybe that was why—strangely enough—A no longer reminded him of those "wraiths" at all.

“Wow, mister, your gear’s totally different now. Where’d your arm go?”

A stood directly before him, her bright blue eyes gleaming with genuine curiosity as she looked up at the towering steel body that was at least twice her size.

Her voice was innocent—childlike—but Hector couldn’t move.

The sheer pressure from this tiny being froze him in place.

Most of his equipment had been wrecked in the battle with Rina, and his energy reserves were nearly depleted.

If A chose to attack now, there’d be nothing he could do. Not even run.

Fortunately, she seemed to be on the same side as Green Wraith and Victor—his temporary allies in the fight.

She didn’t look like she was about to turn hostile, but he still couldn’t let his guard down.

As Hector watched her warily, A moved like she owned the place, muttering to herself in a relaxed tone:

“Huh, your shoulder’s different too... and the weapon systems aren’t quite the same...”

She didn’t seem concerned with his condition or the state of the battlefield. What caught her attention was the mangled machinery attached ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to him.

And then—

[BEEEEP.]

A sharp emergency alert flashed across Hector’s AR interface.

It was a priority signal—reserved for the highest level security codes.

[Emergency situation. Return to headquarters immediately.]

A terse, urgent message from Ludwig’s command center.

Something had gone very wrong.

["There’s trouble at HQ. I have to return."]

He said the words dryly to A, then turned his head to look at Ember and Victor.

["Green Wraith, Victor... and A."]

He met each of their eyes in turn—his voice still mechanical, but carrying unmistakable sincerity.

["I won’t forget the help you gave in bringing down Rina Cortez. I’ll repay this debt."]

With that, Hector rerouted all his remaining power to his leg boosters and launched himself upward, straight through the broken ceiling like a rocket.

His massive frame vanished into the darkness above.

Only the fading trail of his energy remained in the underground chamber—along with his final words.

****

“This body has arrived!”

Kneeling on one knee, head lifted high—just like some heroic entrance out of a movie.

But the battle was already over.

She had rushed in, riding the shadows as fast as possible in response to Scarlet’s urgent call, but clearly... she’d been a step too late.

Down in the chamber were not just Ember and Victor.

Also here—Hector. The living legend of Babel.

She’d seen him in the news, so she knew he was still active, but seeing him in person was surreal.

I wonder if that guy can reattach his head, like me?

His massive steel body looked wrecked from the battle, but his glowing red eyes still blazed with power.

Hector... right?

She tilted her head.

The head design matched the Hector she’d met recently.

But the body and weapons were completely different.

Last time, he looked like a clunky merc strapped with oversized, brute-force gear.

Now, it was different.

Weapons she’d never seen before were integrated across his frame—devices that looked like they belonged in a classified Hexa Core prototype lab.

They resembled the Circle System-enhanced armaments used only in cutting-edge development.

“Wow, mister, your gear’s totally different now. Where’d your arm go?”

I looked up at the towering steel body, curiosity brimming in my voice.

“Your shoulder’s different too... and your weapons—definitely changed.”

The prototype weapons from before had a certain flimsy, unfinished feel to them, like something out of a paper design. But now, that impression was gone.

It was as if each component had been refined through real combat—tested and improved relentlessly.

So combat really is the best path to weapon advancement, huh...?

That was when Hector checked something on his AR interface. Without another word, he muttered something about urgent business and took off.

Once he was gone, Ember—looking a little worn—walked over to me.

“You finally made it, A.”

“Sorry. Got held up by a weird corpse.”

Ember let out a faint chuckle and stretched.

“Well, at least we’re all still breathing. Anyway, time to focus on why we really came down here.”

Victor, Ember, and I fanned out and started combing through the underground chamber in detail.

The place was hellish—reeking, blood-soaked, suffocating with rot and despair.

[...]

The Child didn’t like the underground at all. They pouted, clearly displeased.

I wrinkled my brow too.

There was something off about the smell. It wasn’t just blood.

It was as if agony and despair had been soaked into it—a stench that words couldn’t properly capture.

Eventually, we succeeded in uncovering the massive hidden tank once more.

Inside, floating in an unidentifiable liquid, were countless human brains and eyeballs.

I scowled deeply at the grotesque sight.

“Why the hell would you keep the eyes in the brains...? That’s just nasty.”

[Aang-dae...]

The golden Child and the red Child on my shoulder couldn't even bear to look. They covered their eyes with tiny hands.

The brains were blackened, warped, melted beyond recognition—and the eyeballs floated like jellyfish.

Victor stared at them, his expression grim.

“When I first found them, they still had signs of neural activity...”

“Hmm. Doesn’t look like they were incinerated to hide evidence. I’d bet it’s related to that gray-white flame Rina Cortez used at the end.”

Ember replied, recording the tank with her hologram camera.

Aside from the horrifying tank, we managed to recover a few more fragments from abandoned terminals.

Most of it was encrypted correspondence between Rina Cortez and some unknown third party—aside from one alarming discovery: traces of the gray-white flame, detected inside human brains.

The decrypted messages revealed obsessive paranoia—Rina’s frantic, almost manic urgency.

She truly believed the world could end tomorrow. She was preparing, guarding, always on edge.

Victor clicked his tongue as he reviewed the files.

“She’s just like those cyber-environmentalists. Those guys were screaming about Babel’s ecosystem collapsing by next year too...”

While Ember focused on extracting data, I wandered the room again, making sure we hadn’t missed anything.

But there was nothing new.

Eventually, Ember finished her data pull and stood up, looking tired.

“You waited long enough. We got everything we need. Let’s head home.”

It was finally time to return.

****

“Cucumbers Raised in Seoul 2!”

“Kkyu!”

A and Agu sat side by side in front of the giant hologram TV, cheering together.

A eagerly shoved a huge pizza platter toward the screen and flopped down, munching and lounging without a care.

Agu settled next to her, popping chips into its mouth with stubby forearms.

Wasn’t this the sequel to their favorite movie?

Ember chuckled quietly at their innocent excitement.

But it wasn’t airing yet.

Instead, the TV was broadcasting a live announcement from the Babel Police Department (BPD).

[The BPD spokesperson has just issued an emergency briefing regarding a new illness emerging across Babel.]

[Reported symptoms so far include sudden fainting and nervous system degradation. Investigations are ongoing into the transmission method and origin.]

[The BPD currently suspects this is a temporary disease and not an act of terrorism. Citizens are urged to remain calm and avoid spreading unfounded rumors. Health guidelines will be issued shortly.]

[We will continue to update you as more information becomes available. Please monitor official announcements.]

“Of course... not a single mention of Hexa Core Armory.”

Ember muttered, clicking her tongue.

From all the intel she’d gathered, the epicenter of the outbreak was clearly inside Hexa Core Armory.

Cases were especially concentrated among soldiers and employees tied to the Reinhardt faction, who’d recently been gaining ground in the civil war.

And yet, despite the massive casualties, not a word from the BPD press release even hinted at the megacorp’s involvement.

As if Hexa Core had nothing to do with the chaos they helped create.

Typical Babel. The megacorp’s influence was absolute.

Quietly, Ember stood and walked toward the massive window of Dino Park.

I need new weapons. New tech. A new edge.

After clashing with Hexa Core repeatedly, the lesson had sunk in deep.

They were outgunned. Fighting a megacorp like this with their current firepower was suicide.

A was a god-tier variable, sure. But even she couldn’t shoulder everything alone.

If something happened to A, the rest of them would fall apart instantly.

They didn’t need a miracle. But they needed at least enough strength to stand against the Circle System itself.

But... I’ve never been good with engineering...

When Ember defected from the megacorp three years ago, she and Hector had been evenly matched in terms of gear.

But that was then.

Technology evolves.

And much faster than she’d expected, the day had come when she needed to catch up—fast.

She stared out the window of Dino Park.

Beyond the glass: absolute darkness. A shadow domain wrapped around the exterior like a void.

The blackness made the glass reflect like a mirror, showing the inside of the park.

Iris and Daniel, faces serious as they learned how to operate holograms under Scarlet’s guidance.

Victor, still drained from the recent battle, collapsed on a sofa.

The two kids running wild with Shadow-Mecha-Kiwi trailing after them.

A and Agu, flopped in front of the TV, still munching pizza and snacks.

And Aria—fragile and still recovering—nestled against A’s side.

The peacefulness of it all made Ember smile faintly.

For now, it felt like everything just might be okay.