Chapter 161 : The Corporation (2)

Under the mask, Ho-cheol's expression instantly crumpled.

Didn't these pseudo-religious psychopaths even think of hiding the keyword "transcendence"?

The presenter continued to explain the advantages, features, and detailed specifications of this project, such as the types of monsters successfully fused, the failed types, and the compatibility rate and ratio for each species.

No one among the people gathered here was interested in the fact that the name of this project was "transcendence."

They were just calculating how much money it would make and how much of that money would fall to them.

Before long, the event was nearing its end.

The executive from Black Oskopf who was in charge of the presentation bowed deeply.

“This concludes the presentation.”

Sporadic applause was heard from among the VIPs.

However, even though the presentation had ended, people did not leave.

Time was diamond for these people, but this time had a value greater than that.

They formed pairs or groups of three to five, but in any case, they stuck to someone and talked.

Was the technology announced today a profit or a loss?

If it was a profit, how could they make an even bigger profit, and if it was a loss, how could they minimize it?

Of course, the largest group was formed around the executive from Black Oskopf who had given the presentation today.

He was surrounded by numerous people, listening to countless business proposals.

Investment, cooperation, deals.

Even while listening to proposals from various directions, he had a broad smile on his face.

Of course, only Ho-cheol was not talking to anyone.

Instead, he stealthily spat out the gum he was chewing and stuck it to the sole of the shoe of the person with the loudest voice.

This should be enough preparation.

He left the presentation hall.

A cafe three hundred metres away from the Black Oskopf building.

No matter how lawless this place was, a certain degree of security was maintained within a few hundred meters of the five major corporations.

If a problem occurred right in front of them, the five major corporations would lose face, so they directly provided military support to the nearby shops.

No one would feel like causing a disturbance after seeing the android standing in front of the counter, or more precisely, the gun on its shoulder.

And so, after ordering a decent coffee, Ho-cheol was lost in thought.

The tracking and mapping function attached to the gum would stop in about three hours.

How much of the building map could he complete by then?

In any case, once he had created a map with this minimal information, it would be the turn of the teaching assistant he had found at Clington, the dark hero.

She would create a more detailed map with her trait, and if, in the process, she could pinpoint the location of the traitorous doctor, that would be the best result.

Because then he could go in right away.

Just as he was wrapping up his future plans.

Someone suddenly approached and sat down in front of Ho-cheol.

“Hello?”

A slightly languid, trailing speech, and impressive red lips visible below the white paper that came down to her philtrum.

It was the executive from The Top who had shown interest in Ho-cheol at the presentation hall earlier.

“I had a hard time finding you after you disappeared after the presentation.”

Getting involved with her would only cause trouble.

Ho-cheol turned his body to the side and ignored her without even answering, but she just continued to chatter.

“I’m Charlotte Lautrec, vice president and acting president of The Top. You can just call me Charlotte for short, I'd like that even better.”

At Charlotte's introduction, Ho-cheol tilted his head, slightly surprised.

“You’re quite a high-ranking person.”

“Not just quite. There’s only one person above me!”

She nonchalantly reached out, took the cup Ho-cheol was drinking from, and took a sip of the coffee.

“By the way, what’s your relationship with Black Oskopf that you were glaring at them as if you wanted to kill them?”

Only then did Ho-cheol turn his head and look at Charlotte.

“Oh my, you didn’t even care when I took your coffee, but now you’re looking at me.”

“How did you know?”

He hadn't failed to control his emotions to the point where someone would notice.

“It's just that my line of work is like that. I’m very sensitive to a particular kind of atmosphere.”

In the first place, she was a merchant of death.

It was only natural that she would be more sensitive and react more delicately to the smell of death than anyone else.

“And I'm very good at what I do, you know. I can distinguish one more thing. If a person has crossed the line, I can also tell how far they've crossed it.”

She leaned her arms on the table and whispered lowly.

“Shall I be honest? The people who were gathered at the presentation hall, the so-called VIPs, they all make a living by selling death. But among them, the one who has killed the most is you. The stench of blood is so strong that even a professional assassin would look like a jaywalking offender.”

Charlotte had seen many S-rank villains in the Battleground.

Among them, there were large-scale terrorists and pleasure killers.

Ho-cheol was similar to them or even worse.

But there was a big difference between them, who just aroused disgust, and Ho-cheol.

“It’s strange. Normally, if you kill that much, your humanity is completely worn away. Or you go completely insane. But you have a completely different atmosphere from them… If I had to say, what would it be?”

Charlotte placed her index finger on her lips for a moment, choosing her words.

Then she snapped her fingers as if she had found a good expression.

“Right. Dignity. I feel a sense of dignity.”

Charlotte reached out and grabbed Ho-cheol's tie.

“Goodness, I’m not usually like this. I’m very interested in such a contradiction.”

Ho-cheol lightly brushed off the hand that was holding his tie.

“I have none.”

Despite Ho-cheol's firm refusal, Charlotte did not lose her smile.

“Then shall we talk about business?”

“Business?”

Ho-cheol asked back, as if puzzled.

This was an unexpected topic.

And Charlotte's atmosphere, which had been soft and gentle until just a moment ago, changed completely.

A menacing aura, as if an invisible blade was aimed right below his neck.

Was that her usual self?

“To be precise, it's a collaboration. A capable individual who is hostile to Black Oskopf. I'm looking for someone like that.”

Charlotte began a lengthy explanation.

The five major corporations of the Battleground.

They were grouped together because they had a similar scale and standing, but their relationship was by no means good.

“We send assassins to each other three or four times a year.”

In the Battleground, the one who gets hit by an assassin is the fool.

“For someone like that, you’re quite defenseless.”

Well, I usually get an armed escort when I go out, but this time, Black Oskopf invited me first.

They wouldn't dare to touch a guest, not an executive of a rival group.

The moment a rumor spreads, not only will their image be shattered, but the rest will join hands and crush them for real.

“So you maintain a minimum line with an equal opponent.”

Ho-cheol was about to drink his coffee, but then he remembered that Charlotte had drunk from it and put the cup back down.

“Ah, but let me ask you one thing. Your motive isn’t money, is it?”

A person who is moved by money cannot be trusted.

No matter how much money you give them, they can betray you at any time for more.

If the goal was to implement justice, that was even more troublesome.

They had done things far worse than Black Oskopf.

After thinking for a moment, Ho-cheol answered as if spitting out the words.

“Personal revenge.”

“Ah! The best motive. There’s no fear of being betrayed in the middle.”

Charlotte's face brightened.

For the sake of revenge, he was the best partner to use, no, to collaborate with.

“We don’t trust each other at all, do we? We’re just using each other for our own purposes.”

Ho-cheol tapped the table with his fingertips.

Since she had revealed her true colors from the beginning, at least it was convenient that he didn't have to rack his brains to figure out the other party's intentions.

“Setting aside the bad blood, what kind of collaboration are you proposing with me?”

“Well, is there anything to explain? It’s clear that you have a grudge against Black Oskopf and want to resolve it somehow. Whatever your plan is, we’ll add another 50% to its success rate.”

“The motive is weak. Even if it's a rival corporation, to propose such a big deal to me, whom you've only met today?”

Charlotte shook her head.

“It's very simple. We have nothing to lose in this.”

For The Top, there was no loss whatsoever.

The support they would provide would not exceed the level of what they spent to keep their rivals in check periodically.

And even if the plan failed and Ho-cheol was caught, since he was an outsider, it would be easy to cut him off.

“Most importantly, the technology Black Oskopf developed this time is very fatal to us.”

The fusion of humans and monsters.

And even an ordinary person can gain the power of an awakened one.

This meant a red flag had been raised for the artificial body industry using machines.

“The five major corporations will become the four, and we will be kicked out of the throne and even suffer the humiliation of having to bow to the guys we used to receive bows from.”

The other four major corporations were in completely different fields.

Large-scale firearms, AI and artificial intelligence, android robots, etc.

Their domains still did not overlap with Black Oskopf's.

But in the case of The Top, which had made body modification its main industry, they could lose not only their awakened customers, but also their ordinary customers, to Black Oskopf.

“It's only a matter of time before we're ruined, so we have to ruin Black Oskopf before that. This is not a matter to be taken lightly with a simple check like usual.”

Normally, at this kind of gathering, the name value of the five major corporations always attracted people.

But not today.

No one had approached her.

All the VIPs who had attended the presentation today had realized, both instinctively and rationally.

Through today's presentation, The Top was already ruined.

No, she still attracted people's attention.

But it was all from lecherous, perverted old men.

They were even more malicious than the hyenas waiting for The Top to be ruined.

The reason Charlotte had come to find Ho-cheol without even attending the post-presentation banquet was because she had read that trend.

“So you’ll add to the probability of my plan?”

“Your original plan was to infiltrate, right?”

“No, I’m going to enter boldly through the front door. Today was just for analyzing the internal structure.”

“Ah. Well, that doesn't matter. But both are not very good. We have a self-destruct device in our headquarters. Is there no law that says Black Oskopf doesn't have one?”

Ho-cheol's expression crumpled as if he was completely fed up.

Are they crazy?

“So instead of going in directly, we have to force them to come out.”

“The method?”

Charlotte lowered her voice, as if someone might hear.

“We also have a technology that we haven't revealed to the public yet. For example… a device that can artificially generate an earthquake.”

Of course, the earthquake-resistant design was perfect, but there hadn't been even a small earthquake in the Battleground for 100 years.

Naturally, if an earthquake were to occur, there would be a huge confusion due to the shock of experiencing it for the first time.

“If we periodically cause small earthquakes, Black Oskopf will realize it too. Ah, this place is no longer safe. A real earthquake will come soon. And they will move on a large scale. Research data, expensive equipment, key personnel, precious materials, etc. We’ll aim for the moment they come out from the underground.”

Ho-cheol, who had been rubbing his cheek and chin with his index and middle fingers, let out a faint sigh.

“……That way has a higher probability. But I have a condition, separate from my revenge.”

“Speak.”

Charlotte smacked her lips as if slightly disappointed.

Was he after something else, like money or experimental results?

Of course, she could make some concessions if he demanded, but as soon as she thought that he was not much different from an ordinary human, her heart, which had been pounding until just a moment ago, instantly calmed down.

But the words that followed were beyond her imagination.

“No killing. That’s my only condition for collaborating with you.”

Charlotte's lips, which had been in a relaxed smile all along, hardened for the first time.

But that was also for a moment, and her lips, which had been parted, burst into a small laugh.

“You’re crazy. Really, you speak so beautifully. I want to see the face under that mask even more now.”

I was wondering why I was attracted to him.

Was it that?

After killing more than anyone, you’re saying you won’t kill now?

She placed both hands on the table and leaned her body forward.

“I want to see your bare face. Can't you take off your mask?”

“I refuse.”

“Hmm. Well, alright. If we succeed in everything, we’ll have to take off that mask to raise a toast.”

Charlotte, separate from her feelings, had been considering Ho-cheol as a kind of disposable card.

If Ho-cheol succeeded, great.

If not, it was a shame.

Since the company's fate was on the line, they had to prepare for their own final, life-or-death attack.

But she had changed her mind.

“I have to see what's under that mask. Ah, then are you not going to kill the target of your revenge either?”

Ho-cheol slowly nodded his head.

“Of course, I have no intention of punishing him with the law of the outside world, but I won’t kill him either. Well……”

He leaned back in his chair and muttered.

“There are places where being alive is more painful.”