---

“The unprecedented genius technician is named Baek Il-hong. You can call me H comfortably.”

The girl who had previously looked scared now introduced herself with a self-loving expression.

After hearing the player mention searching for an individual called ‘Sea Butterfly’, Baek Il-hong readily offered to help the player.

“It seems like the safest place in this dangerous city is next to you, uncle.”

“Why do I have to take you along?”

“Besides, you can’t find Sea Butterfly alone either. Let’s help each other out!”

“Are you asking to be my companion? What happens if I refuse… ah, I can’t refuse.”

– What do you mean refuse, Diadia?

– If we leave her alone, she’ll die, ㅠㅠ and die again, ㅠㅠ

– We’ve got to protect her this time, ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– Aaargh, ban all the teachers!

– Manager!! Do a dance!

– Even if it’s a spoiler, Diadia can’t ban it since she doesn’t even recognize it as a spoiler.

In any case, it was undeniable that the player had explored all sorts of places alone without any gains.

In a dangerous city where various mechanical monsters popped up here and there, leaving a girl like Baek Il-hong alone felt a bit wrong.

Thus, they ultimately decided to travel together.

The first place the player and Baek Il-hong headed to search for Sea Butterfly was a massive factory called <Port>.

“I’ll check the CCTV for traces of Sea Butterfly here. While I sift through the CCTV, you…”

– Thud. Thud. Thud.

– Kiieeeek─!!

“I’ll just play with that robot dog for a bit.”

“You’re saying to be a meat shield, huh.”

It had to be at least 5 meters tall, and its length seemed to be two or three times that.

Its outer shell was made of a special alloy tougher than steel.

It had huge, razor-sharp teeth.

Lastly, automatic rifles and guided missiles were strapped all over its gigantic body.

Every single aspect of it was completely mismatched with the cute description of “robot dog.”

The only reason it could be called a robot dog was that its overall appearance resembled a Doberman.

Even that seemed like an insignificant thought when seen up close—it was monstrosity.

Anyway, in order to buy time for Baek Il-hong to find traces of Sea Butterfly, they had no choice but to confront that bizarre robotic dog.

– Whoosh─!

– Puhbuuk!

– Clank─!

“Hey, doggy! Come here!”

Towards the robotic dog ahead.

More precisely, they shot the wire from the player’s left towards the robot dog’s neck, making it look like it was on a leash.

– The dog is flustered, LOL.

– A suspicious intruder illegally invaded private property and is now assaulting the guard dog!

– Woof! One-year-old doesn’t know any better.

– Anyway, come here, doggy!

Soon, the player shot the right wire at the robot dog’s joints repeatedly, attacking and attacking.

To an onlooker, it would look like a circus performance, as the player’s wire action was flamboyant.

– No way, this is clearly Hero level.

– A single hit would leave them in a dying state, but they’re not getting hit.

– Has this guy really practiced beforehand? LOL.

– Is our Diadia a former investigation squad member?

As expected, the chat exploded with noticeable excitement.

Yet, despite this commotion, they remained focused solely on battling the robot dog, as it was such a formidable opponent.

In particular.

– Toodatatadang─!

“Ugh!!”

– What was that cry of the pterosaur?

– Oh no, the sunset is getting choppy.

– I seriously thought they got shot.

– This is a sudden ambush.

– Meanwhile, the reflexes are insane—they’re dodging everything!

The bullets sporadically fired at the player from the automatic rifle were the most malicious.

They had to avoid and maneuver using the wire solely based on reflexes rather than predicting their patterns.

Not long after, one bullet hit the player, instantly sending their HP into a dying state.

Surprised by this, Ha-eun quickly increased the mouse sensitivity a few notches to allow for more precise control.

From then on, after dodging and attacking with the player’s two wires dozens of times, the battle with the robot dog finally came to an end.

– Kikiik!

– Clank. Clank. Clank.

– Kiieeeek─!

“Did… did we defeat it?”

– Ugh!

– You must never say that line!!!

– But it’s true we defeated it, right?

– Phew… just this once!

What faced them was the collapsed robotic dog, resembling a giant metal gear jarring against each other with a rough sound.

Immediately afterward, a wave surged from the nearby coast, sweeping the robot dog away.

Standing still, staring at the spot where the robot dog had just been, they were approached by Baek Il-hong.

“Did you find any traces of Sea Butterfly?”

“Umm, I found something, but…”

Baek Il-hong’s words trailed off for some reason.

After pressing her for answers in a sharper tone, she finally continued.

“It seems like it has hidden in the sewer.”

“Sewer?”

“Yeah. The location tracking algorithm stopped in the sewer.”

Ultimately, she led the player to a massive sewer called <Ant Hole>.

She speculated that Sea Butterfly had hidden there, in the complex sewers where it could easily escape without CCTV.

So, they walked and walked until they finally arrived at the sewer entrance.

However, it was far too vast and complex to just rush in searching for Sea Butterfly.

“I get that splitting up would be faster, but how do you plan to contact me?”

“Here you go. This is a waterproof walkie-talkie, so be careful not to drop it in water.”

For now, agreeing to Baek Il-hong’s idea of searching the area around the sewer entrance separately, the player received the old walkie-talkie and immediately began searching here and there in the sewer.

However.

About ten minutes after parting ways with Baek Il-hong.

“Uncle… zzzz… is there something… zzzz…”

“Hey? It was working just fine until a moment ago!”

– Ugh!

– No! Not another explosion!

– Il-hong is in dangeroooooo!!!

Suddenly, the poor quality of Baek Il-hong’s transmission filled the player with a bad feeling.

– Tap-tap!

– Whoosh─!

With top-notch control skills, the player activated the wire and hurried towards Baek Il-hong.

At that moment, when the silhouette of Baek Il-hong finally came into view.

– Unauthorized organism detected. Exclusion initiated.

– Clank─!

“Ugh, ugh…!!”

A humanoid robot raised its gun towards Baek Il-hong, who was sitting on the sewer floor.

And almost simultaneously.

– Tap-tap!

– Bang!

With a fierce keystroke that threatened to break the keyboard, Ha-eun fired the player’s wire at lightning speed.

Before a second even passed, the humanoid robot, with its face and torso entirely mismatched.

– No, that’s just a revival.

– Over there it’s a sergeant, but here it’s a lieutenant. LOL.

– The skill in launching wires isn’t something you’d learn in a day—this is too good.

– Diadia, did you just shotgun it?

After finishing off the humanoid robot, the player rushed towards Baek Il-hong, who appeared pale.

“Are you okay?”

With a voice laced with subtle worry, the player checked on her condition.

However, after making eye contact with the player, Baek Il-hong’s breathing became even more rapid.

And for quite a while, she couldn’t calm her shocked heart.

Nevertheless.

“… I thought I couldn’t find you… but you found me this time.”

As time passed, Baek Il-hong finally returned to her original self, carelessly spoke those profound words that lingered in the player’s mind.

The vague feeling of possibly understanding what she meant filled Ha-eun’s head.

Moments later, the player and Baek Il-hong entered the <Inner City> beyond the sewer.

“Do you see that triangular skyscraper over there? There’s a signal from Sea Butterfly’s marking in the basement of that building.”

“I understand.”

“Finally, we found Sea Butterfly!”

– Wow, our Diadia is amazing!

– They did find something, LOL!

– Are we getting closer? Closer? Closer? Closer? Closer?

Just as they were about to rush towards the building she pointed out.

– Snatch.

“Wait, wait! If we rush in blindly, we’ll end up getting swarmed!”

Baek Il-hong’s sudden intervention caused the player to climb onto a massive security robot instead of approaching the building entrance.

The reason for this was that they could reach the building’s front without raising suspicion.

But.

– Crackle─!

– Unprogrammed movement detected.

– Removing variables.

“U-uh, uncle. It seems like we’ve… been discovered.”

A massive centipede robot blocked the player and Baek Il-hong’s giant security robot.

No, rather than simply blocking, it was entirely ready to eradicate them.

“Keep operating. I’ll go outside to assist.”

Finally, the player flung open the entrance of the massive security robot and charged straight at the centipede robot ahead.

What followed was a combined attack by the player and Baek Il-hong controlling the massive security robot.

– Whoosh─!

– Bang!!

The player created an opening with their swift movements, which Baek Il-hong seized to land a straight punch with the security robot’s fist.

Whenever the player faced danger, Baek Il-hong stepped in to create a gap for the player to escape from the centipede robot.

Despite this being their first time coordinating, they moved in perfect harmony.

Eventually, the massive centipede robot was completely wrecked in no time.

“W-we did it!!”

With an excited expression, Baek Il-hong attempted a high five with the player.

However, the player, ignoring her, walked towards the triangular building in the distance.

They could no longer afford any delays.

They were so close to finally confronting the foe who had killed the daughter they had been searching for.

So.

Thus.

Therefore.

– Snatch.

“U-uh… um, uncle. Can you at least play with me one last time?”

Once again, Baek Il-hong made an annoying request that seemed bothersome.

At this point, the player wasn’t even interested in what she was saying.

“The agreement to accompany you was only until we found Sea Butterfly.”

“Is that really more important than revenge? I’m just asking for one more game, and you can grant that…!”

“Um…? The lines are getting censored again?”

– That’s because ㅁㅁ is my ㅁㅁ, you see~

– Can’t even call ㅁㅁ by its name, LOL.

– What if I cast a spell? (Deleted message)

– What do I do? I’m already feeling sad. ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

So, they continued to watch the conversation between the player and Baek Il-hong grow even more ambiguous.

– Tap.

“This is it, Il-hong.”

The moment a man, similarly dressed to the player, suddenly appeared and firmly grabbed Baek Il-hong.

More precisely, when the player unconsciously took a step towards Baek Il-hong, who appeared to be on the verge of tears.

– Crackle!

“Step one more foot closer, and I’ll turn you into complete scrap.”

“U-uh? Why are you attacking all of a sudden? Weren’t we on the same side??”

Once again faced with an unexpected scene, they sensed the genre and ambiance of the game shift dramatically.

The majestic background music that had been playing since entering the inner city abruptly halted.

“Don’t touch that ■■!!”

“Get a grip, Il-hong. That’s not ■■; it’s just a ■■.”

Baek Il-hong shouted with an upset face as emotions surged, trying to escape from the man.

The man, trying to pacify Baek Il-hong, attempted to lead her somewhere.

The stalemate between the two, which hadn’t changed no matter how much time passed, ultimately led to—

“I’ve been living without dying. I’m not afraid of death at all.”

“Il-hong.”

“Let me go. Otherwise, I’ll die right in front of you, uncle.”

The atmosphere began to heat up with a hostage situation, where Baek Il-hong threatened her own life.

The man had no choice but to follow Baek Il-hong’s wishes and let the player go.

Thus, the player staggered, injured by the man, and started to leave in search of Sea Butterfly, whom they so longed to meet.

“You do what you must, uncle. I’ll… do what I must do.”

Baek Il-hong said goodbye in a voice sadder than ever.

Almost simultaneously, a small remote control was pressed towards the player, and gray noise slowly started to fill the game screen.

Even once Baek Il-hong disappeared somewhere.

And when they arrived at the building with Sea Butterfly’s markings.

And when they swept away every single security humanoid that charged from the building’s entrance.

Even when they reached just before the underground room where Sea Butterfly was hiding.

“Is it really okay to just go to that basement…?”

As they drew closer to Sea Butterfly, the increasingly intense gray noise hesitated their steps.

Baek Il-hong, who had seemed to hide some secret, kept nagging at them.

And so, ultimately.

– Tap.

They began to move backwards instead of forward.

It felt like going to the ending without uncovering a secret would leave an uncomfortable feeling.

However.

“… This is surprising. I never thought a robot would have any desires.”

The player stood momentarily confused at the man waiting at the building’s entrance, surrounded by numerous citizens.

The man’s words referring to the player as a robot, along with the strange citizens, were all baffling.

“What do you plan to do, defective product?”

“You ask why that girl helped me, and I will answer.”

“That seems inefficient for simple information gathering… Listening to the answer wouldn’t change anything; it’s pointless.”

After parting ways with the man, who casually told them to manage on their own, the player walked through crowds of unfamiliar citizens they had never seen before.

The problem was that information they previously couldn’t tap into started flooding in.

Not only the current date but information about the city came rushing in like a tsunami, beginning to ‘update’ the player’s mind.

“……………”

While struggling through the vast ocean of information.

As time went on, they finally reached the city control room where Baek Il-hong’s biosignal was located.

“What are you doing here?”

They reunited with Baek Il-hong, who seemed noticeably colder than before.

Simultaneously, the player’s artificial intelligence eyes began consuming “information” to analyze the girl called ‘Baek Il-hong.’

What had simply been a strange girl they met that day began to take on a gradually deeper meaning.

No, it would be more accurate to say that the original meaning gradually started to reveal itself.