Chapter 26
Delivery Service (4)
“…One billion?”
Phantom’s face hardened.
“You make tens of millions in one job—what’s the big fuss?”
“Is a billion won a joke to you?”
“Don’t worry. We’re not spending it right away.”
They only needed to show they had the ability to pay.
Phantom reluctantly handed over his phone, and a guard displayed a number of unreadable zeroes.
“Confirmed.”
The guard who had checked them led them into the room.
What the manager brought in was hardly luxurious: a straight glass with whiskey, a small mortar-and-pestle that looked like part of a tea set — and…
“This can’t be… soulstone?”
“That’s right.”
A fingernail-sized crystalline shard that glittered faintly.
It was a piece cut from a soulstone.
Soulstones were clearly the players’ exclusive resource, but even among ordinary people there were those who wanted them.
“If you grind this up and inhale it, you’ll feel the ultimate pleasure.”
More precisely, it was a drug that amplified fear.
If an ordinary person without stellar energy ingested a soulstone, they would immediately experience a hallucination like being left alone in the vast void of space.
It maximized the cosmic-horror fear that lurks within the human psyche.
Of course, the pleasure didn’t come during the terror. It arrived right after the effects faded.
The boundless terror, followed by the relief of returning to ordinary life — the happiness of believing you could never experience such fear where you stood — created an enormous catharsis that felt like a drug-induced pleasure.
Because soulstones acted directly on the soul, there were no physical side effects.
So much so that some said all modern narcotics were merely pale imitations.
Anyway, one reason soulstone fragments — useful mainly for players — could be worth hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions was that they were secretly distributed as the finest drugs.
“Then enjoy your time.”
“Wait.”
Sehyun stopped the manager as he was about to leave.
“I want the real thing.”
What lay on the tray now were mass-produced pieces made by processing a monster’s soulstone.
There was something else Sehyun wanted to confirm.
“The real one… you mean?”
“If you know we already have something prepared, that’ll make things quick.”
“…!!!”
The manager hesitated, startled, then spoke quietly into his earpiece.
A senior manager hurried over, and the atmosphere changed.
There was a sharpness about the man with the squinted eyes.
“My apologies for not recognizing the players. Especially…”
He glanced briefly at Phantom.
“It seems a rather famous person has accompanied you.”
“How flattering.”
Phantom responded nonchalantly.
“I heard you want the genuine article. Which item are you asking after?”
Sehyun slid the tray with packaged goods forward.
“I heard some items arrived recently.”
A twitch ran through the senior manager’s brow.
“Surely they wouldn’t be ‘productized’ already?”
“…This is it. I suppose it can’t be hidden any longer.”
The manager forced a smile that reeked of malice.
Thinking about what they did behind the scenes made Sehyun want to vomit.
‘Productized.’
It was slang for taking a player with nowhere to go and refining them into soulstone.
To sell at higher prices, they would “age” the product.
They fed small amounts of soulstone to the product (the player) to grow their stellar energy.
The process continued until the target died from overload.
That was how they manufactured the soulstones used as drugs.
Clearly, kidnapped targets had flowed into this place.
‘If they’ve been commodified, that’s a disaster…’ Sehyun swallowed his panic.
The senior manager read Sehyun’s expression and answered.
“Don’t worry. You’d be surprised which level this product is being aged to. And…”
When the manager narrowed his eyes, a cold pale light like stellar power pressed against them.
“That will never fall into your hands.”
“……!!!”
‘Could they already know why we came…?’
Before Sehyun could react, a dagger plunged into the manager’s neck.
“Don’t talk. Just tell us where the product is.”
Gurgle…!
Blood bubbled from his throat.
“Oh, sorry. I should have stabbed you after you answered, right?”
Phantom pulled the dagger out and blood spurted from the wound.
Thud—
The manager collapsed. Only the soulstone remained on the floor.
Sehyun was too stunned to move.
Phantom shrugged as if it were nothing.
“What, surprised?”
“…If you kill someone like that without warning, anyone would be scared.”
“You weren’t going to get a proper answer anyway, so no point wasting time.”
He was crazier than Sehyun had expected.
He’d assumed there might be a bloodbath, but not that they’d move so swiftly.
Now Sehyun understood some of why Chester had been so anxious.
Phantom picked up the manager’s discarded soulstone and tossed it to Sehyun.
“Don’t you have a rough idea where they keep things?”
“…I do, but—”
“Lead the way. I’ll handle the annoying obstacles.”
“You’re not just itching for a fight, are you?”
“You know me well.”
They headed toward the basement where the target should be.
“There they are! Get them!”
Guards rushed out into the corridor as if they’d seen CCTV.
Suddenly, a dagger sliced through the air from the shadows on the wall.
Screeeeeek—
The artery near the collarbone of the guide guard was severed and blood spattered, blinding the others.
Seizing the moment, Phantom kicked one guard from behind and then drove his dagger into the shadow on the wall.
Thunk—
The dagger struck the back of a man’s head precisely.
Phantom had used shadow-movement so that the dagger would spring up under the falling man.
“What…!”
“That crazy bitch!”
While the others froze at the bizarre fighting style, the corridor quickly ran red with blood.
Although these scumbags trafficked people and organs and were receiving their just deserts, the sight was horrendous.
‘…Stay composed.’
Sehyun had expected this once he’d agreed to go with her.
He steadied himself and moved onward.
At the bottom of the stairs, a crudely finished hallway opened up.
Guard after guard tried to block them, but Phantom simply slashed through the shaded, narrow corridor.
“Ugh!!!!”
Phantom’s dagger was nothing more than a nuisance-clearing tool to the one who danced among shadowed silhouettes.
Step by step, Sehyun followed, leaping over bodies.
After dozens of such moves, the two reached a sealed door.
There was no way to peer inside; even Phantom’s shadow ability couldn’t infiltrate.
Phantom wiped blood from her face and turned to Sehyun.
“You’re not going to tell me there’s no way in here, are you?”
“Of course there is.”
Sehyun took out a dead ringer and set the dial to three o’clock.
[3 o’clock: Firey Scripture]
A lava-like force, modeled after a saint’s technique, flowed from his hand.
He pressed it to the handle and it heated, slowly melting.
Bang!
They kicked the door open. The man lounging inside flinched and dropped the magazine he’d been reading.
“What—!”
Sehyun raised his lava-wrapped hand in front of the man’s face.
“Get out.”
“Eek!!”
The man scrambled away and bolted.
“Tch.”
Phantom clicked her tongue and scanned the room.
It was sealed and unventilated; several people lay hooked to IVs — from elderly vagrants to children who looked like early teenagers.
This was the scene where the “product” had been given the liquid made by grinding down soulstones.
They must have rounded up struggling players and done this to them.
“…Bastards.”
This was something the Foundation itself could never ignore.
Although their basic principle was to not interfere in player disputes, they wouldn’t stand idly by at human rights abuses.
It simply hadn’t been discovered until now.
Working in a sealed space underground prevented the stellar energy from leaking and kept them out of the Foundation’s notice.
“—Phantom?”
She stood by one bed, looking down.
A girl who looked like a middle schooler. Short hair peeked from under a hood.
She matched the information Chester had provided.
This was the target they’d been searching for.
Sehyun frowned slightly.
Phantom’s demeanor when she looked at the girl didn’t seem ordinary.
Many emotions overlapped in her gaze.
“…Is she family?” the old man on the next bed rasped.
He, too, was hooked to an IV and spoke with resigned bitterness.
“Of course not. If she had family, she’d never have been dragged here… What are you going to do with her?”
Sehyun didn’t answer.
They hadn’t come to rescue her out of compassion.
Nor did he feel pangs of conscience — in a future where judging right from wrong was a luxury, what truly mattered?
“Shut up, you damned old man,” Phantom snapped, turning from the child.
She had already stepped behind Sehyun, carrying the girl.
Sehyun stepped forward as well.
There was no longer any reason to stay; they had secured the target.
“Take good care of her. She’s far too young to die in a place like this.”
As they walked out, the old man’s plea followed.
Phantom muttered, too low for him to hear, “Don’t worry.”
Her expression was resolute. Clearly there was some circumstance behind it.
Sehyun was about to ask when a deafening crash sounded from the basement entrance down the hall.
Dust billowed and a stampede of combat boots approached fast.
Within moments, dozens of men armed with guns appeared.
Their stellar force was noticeable — they were clearly in league with the people running this place.
“These bastards… they must want to die.”
Phantom narrowed her eyes, prepared to draw her dagger.
A figure advanced through the crowd.
A man wearing a black helmet with a green emblem — one of the ‘network’ group that had been with Chester.
He approached Phantom without a word and handed her a radio.
“What’s this?” Phantom asked.
Static, then a man’s voice came through.
[Ah, Phantom — you there?]
Phantom’s brow twitched.
“…Chester?”
[You found the place quickly. I didn’t think I gave you that much info.]
Phantom’s gaze sharpened.
“So what’s this about?”
[You should have noticed the moment we first showed up in front of you. We only intended to use you.]
“Don’t spout nonsense. You’re working with those club guys?”
[Isn’t that what out players do? Betrayal comes with the territory.]
“Cut the shit.”
‘Out players’ were notorious for acting purely in self-interest — they’d collaborate when profitable and cut ties when not.
But this felt too sudden.
If the Foundation caught wind of this, it’d be ruin. Chester, who was cautious, would have hesitated to take such a job without thinking it through.
Something about it didn’t sit right with Phantom, so she didn’t move.
Sehyun stepped forward.
“Hey, you—”
“Keep an eye on the target. Don’t overthink it.”
A silver pocket watch glinted; a hand axe popped up from the shadow space.
“Do as you always do.”
“…What?”
“They took the first swing, so we have to respond.”
Then Sehyun charged straight at them.
