It’s already been an hour since we started this great escape.
Fortunately, the weak legs of those bipedal lizards couldn’t keep up with the speed of the warriors’ counterattack, so we managed to shake them off—or so I thought.
[★☆☆: Survive. (Incomplete)]
“Ugh.”
Even though we’d run quite far, the mission completion notification still hadn’t popped up, meaning we couldn’t leave the tower yet.
Since we couldn’t just abandon the mission either, we had no choice but to find another trigger to clear it and then drag the warriors who had already returned to Celestia back here.
Deep breath.
Sigh. Â
“Juin, are you okay?” Â
“N-No, I’m fine.”
The sweet, sticky scent of sweat wafting from Rumi’s body filled my nose, making my head spin.
But we couldn’t just keep running aimlessly like this.
Time to throw another gamble.
“See that huge building over there? Let’s head there.”
I wasn’t sure exactly when the trigger would activate, but around the 23rd floor, events should start happening soon.
We needed to make contact with the megacorp “Ido Corporation.”
***
From what I remember, the power structure of the Great Empire was divided into three main pillars.
First, of course, was the imperial family and its subordinate government.
Though they wielded absolute authority, in practice, they were less of a well-oiled machine and more of a dysfunctional mess heavily influenced by their subordinates.
And among those subordinates, the loudest voices belonged to the lizards.
Officially, they were called “Dragonkin,” but who cares about official terms?
Whether you called them Reptilians, Lizardmen, lizards, dinosaurs, or whatever, their influence was massive.
They were also the main villains.
After all, the primary mission on the 25th floor was to take down the leaders of the lizards—the cyberpunk version of the Ten Eunuchs, the “Five Tyrannical Dinosaurs.”
…I knew we’d have to fight them eventually, but I didn’t expect them to be so persistent as to force us into the tower like this.
And finally—
“Wow…!”
“This looks like it’s at least 20, no, 30 stories tall.”
The last pillar was the megacorp responsible for the Great Empire’s science and technology: the “Ido Corporation.”
“Finally.”
It felt like forever since I’d last walked on my own two feet.
After being carried by Rumi, then piggybacked by her, then carried by Alice, then piggybacked by her—while somehow still being chased—walking normally felt like a luxury.
“Rumi, do you think we lost them?”
Sniff sniff— “For now, it seems like it, woof!” Â
The objective wasn’t complete yet, but judging by the meaning of “survive,” it probably meant securing our safety.
“Master, is this place safe?”
“Um… maybe?”
I wasn’t entirely sure.
Making contact here might be a bit iffy, but it was still better than stubbornly waiting all night relying solely on the princess.
“Let’s go in.”
I confidently strode through the unmanned front entrance of the building.
Well, “unmanned” didn’t mean unprotected—drones resembling Locker No. 38, which made Alice’s chest look like it had three separate sections, were buzzing around.
“Gotcha.”
“Meow—!”
Whether Neb had taken over or not, I grabbed Tina by the scruff as she floated aimlessly and subdued her.
As the screen door slid open with a whoosh, a voice greeted us:
[Welcome to Ido Corporation. Please state the purpose of your visit.]
Unlike Locker No. 38, which looked like it had someone inside, this reception robot seemed entirely mechanical.
For some reason, I felt like I should shout, “Tell your CEO to come out!” but doing that would probably double the number of hostile factions in an instant.
“I have urgent business with the chairman. Please deliver this item to him…”
This was, frankly, ridiculous.
It was like walking into Samsung HQ and demanding to see Jay Y. Lee—no way that would work.
So, I had two bait items.
First was Locker No. 38 itself.
Its existence alone suggested ties to government affairs.
Second was my smartphone—or in warrior terms, the “Tablet of Revelation.”
To ordinary people, it might just look like a block of scrap metal, but warriors would instinctively recognize it as something related to the Oracle.
The chairman?
Of course, he was a warrior. A 5-star character.
If he saw this, he wouldn’t just ignore me—or so my sharp calculations told me!
《Your request is under review. Processing may take some time. In the meantime, please wait in the VIP lounge.》
“Alright. Thank you.”
Luckily, I wasn’t immediately turned away.
Of course, the polite phrasing of “VIP lounge” probably hid the underlying threat of “if we decide you’re suspicious, you’ll be detained and fed a nice bowl of interrogation soup.”
But the fact that they even entertained my request was what mattered.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Leading the warriors, who were still dazed by the hyper-technological scenery of the Great Empire’s most advanced building, I stepped forward.
***
“Krrrk, why are you so slow?! Move faster!”
Gong Yongwan was furious.
He had no idea what trick they’d pulled, but somehow, they’d cast a mass hallucination and slipped away in the confusion.
It was already infuriating enough that the boy traveled with so many women, but his abilities were clearly a variable that could disrupt their “grand plan.”
Now that the women surrounding him had left his side, this was the perfect chance to eliminate him—!
“Split up! Fan out and search! There’s no way they can escape Neo Hanyang at this hour! Krrk!”
After hurriedly organizing pursuit squads, Gong Yongwan, the true leader of the Dragonkin in this era, did what any proper leader should do.
“Bring me my palanquin!”
Earlier, he’d been in such a rush that he’d run recklessly on foot, but if he kept this up, his noble reptilian feet might develop blisters.
Lighting a cigarette and enjoying a leisurely smoke, he indulged in a happy fantasy.
“Krrk, once we catch them, we’ll castrate the men and… krrk, krk, kkk.”
Just as he was happily imagining the scene—
“…?”
A chilling sensation suddenly ran down his spine.
“Castrate… what?”
At the icy voice, Gong Yongwan instinctively turned his head.
“Krrrk…?”
What greeted him was the sight of a woman with her face entirely wrapped in bandages.
But what drew his attention wasn’t her face—it was everything below it.
Her explosive chest was barely covered by a thin cloth, but the fabric was so small that her cleavage, sideboob, and everything else were blatantly exposed.
Her tightly wrapped bandages only accentuated her slender waist, creating an outfit so scandalous it was unimaginable in the conservative Great Empire.
Before he knew it, a line of drool trickled from his mouth.
“Guh—”
As his consciousness faded into the sky, his last thought was,
Well, at least I got a nice view before dying.
Thud!
Looking down at the fallen Gong Yongwan, Renatel pondered.
She’d only knocked him out instead of killing him because, despite being a lizard, he was dressed in expensive clothes.
But after hearing his earlier remarks, maybe she should’ve just cut his throat.
But her hesitation didn’t last long.
“Krrk, Lord Gong!”
“What’s this wench doing?!”
More lizardmen arrived, carrying the palanquin she’d seen so often in Hanyang.
For a brief moment, Renatel considered her options.
Should she slaughter them all?
Or maybe silence them permanently…?
Given that they were clearly part of a conspiracy targeting the Oracle—no, the Ark—and she’d already covered her ears, tail, and face, there shouldn’t be any repercussions.
Of course, the shameless design of her chest covering was more than enough to identify her, but unfortunately, Renatel was a proud wolf.
She operated under the discriminatory belief that as long as her ears weren’t visible, no one would mistake her for anything but human—so she didn’t even consider that minor detail.
But one thing weighed on her mind.
The way Ark had acted in the Great Forest.
Even if he’d shaved off the tail fur that was the pride of beastmen, he’d refused to take their lives.
That noble spirit. Â
She couldn’t bring herself to betray that ideal.
“Krrk, step away from Lord Gong…!”
“If even a single scale is scratched, we won’t let you off!”
Watching the lizards hiss in anger, Renatel made her move.
“Freeze. Take one more step, and I’ll peel off a scale for each movement.”
“Y-You barbarian…!”
Resorting to the oldest intimidation tactic in history—hostage-taking.
A short while later.
“Krrk, krrk…”
Having extracted all the information about today’s operation, Renatel knocked out every lizard standing on two legs and let out a sigh.
Getting the intel was good, but now she had to deliver it to Ark.
Sniff sniff. Â
I sniffed again and again,
Catching his scent, she guessed the general direction and started running again.
Thus began the new legend of Neo Hanyang—the prelude to the tale of the Masked Sword King.
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