Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 88: Margherita Pizza

Seoul Dino Park, cloaked in shadow.

I stood silently, staring at a newly formed section tucked deep inside a corridor of the station—an isolated corner rarely visited by anyone.

If Dino Park hadn’t been a part of me, it would’ve taken ages to even find this place.

Well, considering there were fewer than ten people in this whole massive station to begin with, it wasn’t like there was a shortage of uninhabited corners.

Floating in the center of the newly-formed sector was a massive black cube—identical to the one we’d seen deep in the heart of Nexus Node.

“Huh... this looks just like the cube from Nexus Node’s core...”

I muttered, taking a closer look at the cube.

The ominous and spine-chilling aura it had before was completely gone.

Instead, its surface glowed with a soft, pulsating blue light, gently waving like a living heartbeat. Somehow, it felt strangely familiar. Almost... comforting.

Had merely observing Nexus Node’s cube caused its technology to manifest here inside Seoul Dino Park in this form?

Strangely enough, this kind of structure hadn’t appeared with any of Hexa Core Armory’s Circle Systems or Titan Tech’s shadow abilities.

Of course, it wasn’t like Dino Park had just gotten another decorative cube.

As with other megacorp technologies, Nexus Node’s cube had yielded a new ability.

I decided to name it—“I Network!”

Just like the name, it established an immediate network for communication between me and the Children—or even between the Children themselves.

At first, I thought it was just a mildly useful ability—letting me talk to them a little more easily.

But contrary to expectations, the I Network actually had its own share of perks.

The biggest one? Ability sharing.

I didn’t fully understand the exact mechanics, but it seemed like sensations related to using powers—experience, intuition, even subtle emotional rhythms—could be transmitted through the network, naturally passing the abilities along.

In other words, from now on, the Children and I could basically share most of our powers.

Sure, they couldn’t perfectly replicate everything I could do due to their physical limitations—but at the very least, things like blade transformation and shadow stepping were no problem for them anymore.

The second advantage was remote command and reporting.

I mean, “remote command” mostly amounted to simple errands, but remote surveillance could be surprisingly powerful depending on the situation.

Even if the Children were dumb as bricks, they could still sneak into certain places and spy on things from a distance.

Of course, the downsides were just as obvious.

The biggest? It was way too noisy.

The Children’s chatter constantly echoed in my head, without warning or pause.

[Can you hear me?]

[Yep! I hear you!]

[Heehee.]

There were only three of them, and it was already unbearable.

I had no idea how many times they repeated the same dumb Q&A routine every day.

And judging by recent trends, their numbers might keep growing, which made the whole thing horrifying to think about.

There was also a drawback—not a flaw exactly, just... disappointing.

Their intelligence was still at toddler level, which made issuing complex commands remotely kind of hopeless.

If I had the smart version of The Child—the one I met back at MK Corp—instead of this current “dumb version,” I probably could’ve used this ability in far more interesting ways...

Swallowing that little regret, I looked up once more at the massive black cube, still pulsing gently with its blue light.

****

In a corner of Seoul Dino Park’s break room, Ember stood by the giant window, silently gazing into the endless darkness beyond.

Absolute pitch black. Not a speck of dust.

That darkness was both a solid shield protecting them from external threats—and a cozy refuge, a place to finally exhale.

Strangely, whenever Ember looked into this deep, black void, she felt a sliver of peace inside.

“It’s finally... all over.”

She whispered toward the darkness.

As if saying goodbye to the spirits of her old comrades—those who had died because of the cube—somewhere beyond the void.

Maybe it was because darkness symbolized both death and rest.

Somehow, she felt her silent prayer had actually reached the comrades she could no longer meet. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

As the moment of silence ended and she turned her head, she spotted A lying diagonally across a bed inside the break room, quietly nibbling on a slice of pizza.

Same as always—laid-back, unbothered.

Seeing her like that brought to mind a question that had been swirling around in Ember’s head for a while.

She walked quietly over to A’s bed and sat beside it.

“A.”

“?”

When Ember spoke, A looked up from her pizza with a puzzled expression, like she was wondering what this was about.

“During the last mission... did you figure out anything about the blue corpse, or how it might be connected to MK Corporation?”

“Ah!”

A let ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ out a small gasp, like she’d just remembered something important she’d completely forgotten.

Then, looking faintly guilty—as if she'd forgotten something she obviously should’ve said—she hurried to speak.

“You know the cube at the center of Nexus Node, and that corpse we saw back in the Hexa Core Armory warehouse—the one bound in chains? Yeah. Turns out they’re connected.”

She paused to take a breath, then continued, her expression turning serious.

“The cube was connected to some other dimension, and when I looked closely... both the blue corpse and those worm monsters—they all seem like they came from the same place. There was this... same kind of trace to them.”

The moment she heard those words, Ember furrowed her brow without meaning to.

“So that blue corpse we saw back in the Hexa Core Armory warehouse... you're saying it also crossed into Babel because of that cube...?”

The thought that the damage caused by Nexus Node’s grotesque cube had spread far wider and more deeply than she had imagined cast a shadow over Ember’s expression.

But A, having heard Ember’s muttered words, shook her head.

“No, that’s not it. The cube was just communicating with another dimension through a hole that had already been opened long ago.”

“A hole that was already open?”

Ember repeated.

“Yeah. From what I saw, Babel’s unstable space itself acts like a kind of ‘gateway’ to the other side. Probably something that happened when the Grand Convergence hit. And...”

A trailed off for a second, as if turning something over in her mind, then cautiously continued.

“And this isn’t confirmed or anything, but... I think that ‘end’ Rina Cortez talked about, and the ‘doom’ the blue corpse kept muttering... both of them are probably deeply tied to that gateway.”

With that, A fell back onto the bed as if she’d said everything she needed to say.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she resumed eating her remaining pizza.

Nom nom.

****

Ember sank into thought after hearing my explanation.

“Another dimension... I think I’ve come across similar data before. I need to go dig it up.”

With that, she quickly left the break room.

She was probably heading to Central Control to track down the info she’d mentioned.

The moment she stepped out of the break room, a panicked voice suddenly rang through the I Network in my head.

[Big trouble!]

What the hell now?

Frowning slightly, I shadow-stepped toward the Child who had called for me.

Thanks to shadow travel, I arrived in a blink.

It was the supply room tucked away in a corner of Seoul Dino Park.

And there in front of me...

The Child stood grinning proudly in front of a precariously stacked tower of tiny metal cubes.

They had been stacked by placing tip to tip, corner to corner—forming an oddly balanced, teetering cube tower.

It reached a full four levels high, and to be honest, looked pretty impressive.

Yeah, I guess it kind of is a big deal...

I sighed inwardly, walked over, and patted the Child on the head for a job well done.

To be completely honest, I had a pretty strong urge to just flick it, watch the four-tiered cube tower collapse, and hear the Child scream [Nooo!].

But I barely resisted the temptation with superhuman patience, since they’d probably be devastated.

And for some reason, today must’ve been a special kind of day—because the Children kept calling me up for all kinds of stupid reasons.

Bragging about finding a delicious candy and bringing it back like a prized treasure, or showing me a wobbly drawing they made of me in the sand...

It seemed they really wanted to spend time with me.

Looking back, I had no idea how badly they must’ve wanted to call out to me back when the I Network didn’t exist.

...

After a whirlwind tour of Child-based nonsense, things finally quieted down—as if they’d gotten tired of summoning me nonstop.

So I made my way back to the break room, lay down, and went back to lazily snacking on pizza when—

[Big trouble!]

[You gotta come quick!]

[It’ll get cold!]

Again, the Children’s frantic voices echoed through the I Network.

But this time, something felt different from before.

Their voices still sounded playful, but... there was a strange undertone—like they were excited. Maybe even a little proud.

This time, I swear I’m turning those little bastards into shadow kimbap.

With that firm resolve, I threw myself back into the shadows once again.

The moment I arrived where the Children were—

What greeted me was...

A whole pizza. Awkwardly made, but clearly baked with care.

The Children held it out to me, grinning from ear to ear.

[Pizza!]

[It’s a gift!]

[Gift!]

As if they wanted to leave behind proof that they had made it themselves, the pizza was dotted with tiny, adorable handprints.

I stared at them for a moment, and—before I knew it—found myself smiling a little.

Gently, I picked up a slice and took a bite.

There was way too much sauce, and the dough was still a little undercooked, so it wasn’t exactly gourmet...

But maybe because of the heart they’d put into it, the pizza wasn’t half bad.