There are too many non-believers in cyberpunk – Chapter 15

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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For several days after the incident with Jimmy, Amon couldn’t sleep, plagued by unease.

Every major incident is always preceded by small signs.

Having experienced the bad ending of the light path after ignoring the small sign of a headache, Amon didn’t ignore small signs in this life.

‘This is a quest foreshadowing.’

An incident where a graduate threatens someone’s life with a gun isn’t a major incident.

It’s only a foreshadowing.

A sign that it will return later as a bigger problem.

The scenario Amon could imagine was Jimmy going crazy, bringing a gang with him, and attacking the orphanage.

Because of this, Amon couldn’t relax his guard and continued to lose sleep.

‘Damn it. Guess sleep is out of the question tonight.’

Amon got out of bed and scratched his head vigorously.

Then, careful not to wake his roommate, he sat down at his desk.

Turning on his laptop, he searched for information related to his career path.

This had been his routine for the past few sleepless nights.

Until now, he’d been searching for information on mercenary guilds, the history of the Vatican, and incidents related to both.

Tonight, it was Higzen Group’s turn.

‘History of Higzen Group…’

Amon carefully typed, searching for the history of the Higzen Group.

‘Founded 38 years ago…’

Based on Part 3, it was 11 years after the true ending.

After the true ending, many megacorporations fell, and rookies rose. It seemed Higzen was a rookie who survived that period.

‘Main business is distribution. Expanding globally under the name Hyzen Mart.’

While not the largest distributor in the US, it was still a considerable large-scale mart franchise.

When he heard that Higzen had risen to the ranks of other megacorporations solely through distribution, Amon’s first reaction was doubt.

‘What kind of magic did they pull off?’

Megacorporation, or megacorp, wasn’t a title casually given to any large company with a lot of money.

It was a title reserved for corporations that were irreplaceable, untouchable even by nations, and reigned supreme above the law.

The businesses megacorps handled included the military industry, which could overpower law enforcement; the food industry, directly linked to survival; and the media, which could manipulate even the government.

The fact that Higzen Group stood shoulder to shoulder with such companies through distribution meant they possessed something special, something irreplaceable.

That special something didn’t require much searching.

It was plastered all over their homepage.

[Hyzen Mart has everything except nothing! Can’t find what you’re looking for? Ask an employee! We’ll get it for you within 2 hours!]

[Our factory, operating 24/7 in the basement of the mart, will immediately manufacture the product you want!]

They would even manufacture products to fill any missing inventory within two hours.

It was truly a discount mart that had everything except nothing.

They even had a pharmacy and a gun shop, so you could really get anything there.

At first glance, it seemed like the ultimate in customer service.

But behind this overwhelming service lurked darkness.

‘Wow, no unions and no workers’ compensation?’

That’s what was written in the wiki document summarizing information about the Higzen Group.

The Higzen Group had no unions.

Things like the four major insurances (in Korea) didn’t apply either.

Where was the constitution?

Megacorps reigned above the constitution.

‘Typical cyberpunk.’

Only in this kind of world could they get away with such things so brazenly.

Anyway, this was the Higzen Group’s weapon.

An overwhelming range of products achieved through the exploitation of cheap labor.

In other words, their identity as a one-stop shop that had everything except nothing was their weapon.

But seeing this, a new question arose.

‘Why would a place like this want me and Sonia?’

Was there any need for Divine Power in the distribution industry?

Even if there was, was there any reason to want it this much?

With this question in mind, Amon typed two keywords into the search bar:

[Higzen Group] and [Mystic Power]

After entering the two words and pressing enter, the results Amon expected appeared.

From the top of the search results onward, articles related to Higzen Group and Mystic Power were listed.

[The Curse of Higzen Group and Mystic Power]

He scrolled through the most well-organized article.

And when he reached the end of the article, Amon was speechless.

‘Every Mystic Power wielder who joined Higzen Group since its founding has died…’

The story went something like this:

The first Mystic Power wielder joined Higzen Group, but died during a night shift.

As he was dying, he cursed the Higzen Group, and since then, every Mystic Power wielder who joined the company died before their first anniversary of employment.

Perhaps because it was a world where ghosts actually existed, people believed that a curse had attached itself to the name Higzen Group.

Some claimed it was sabotage by other megacorps, while others called it a noise marketing tactic by Higzen Group.

The Higzen Group’s Mystic Power drought was so severe that countless conspiracy theories popped up with just a little searching by Amon.

But Amon didn’t take this ghost story at face value.

‘There’s no smoke without fire.’

If it had been happening repeatedly since the company’s founding, there had to be something to it.

Perhaps the truth was mixed in among the absurd conspiracy theories.

Amon quickly moved his fingers.

Like a spy uncovering corporate secrets in a movie, he exhausted the search engine, gathering information.

But there wasn’t much to be gained.

No matter how much he searched, it was just a common black company in a cyberpunk world.

Workers dying every day, police investigating the company dying.

A typical megacorp.

He couldn’t find any information related to Mystic Power here.

Finally, as Amon rubbed his tired eyes, about to give up on his information gathering, a category in the corner of the homepage caught his eye.

Management.

As if possessed, Amon checked the management section.

He scrolled slowly, checking the chairman and executives one by one.

‘Chairman, unknown. Vice-chairman, unknown.’

The scrolling stopped about halfway down.

‘Higzen Group, President of the Battery Division. Viktor N.N.?’

The moment he saw the name, a chill ran down Amon’s spine.

He didn’t recognize it immediately, but after repeating it several times, struck by a sense of familiarity, he remembered where he’d heard it.

‘Why is that crazy man…’

Viktor was the doctor who had put the crazy idea of transferring his consciousness into a robot into practice in the Easter Egg.

It hadn’t yielded any results, being just an Easter Egg, but he never dreamed he’d see that man here.

‘The probability of it being a namesake?’

Zero.

Viktor N.N.

How many eccentrics in the world would use such a unique name officially?

Besides, Amon wasn’t one to believe in coincidences.

He wasn’t so naive as to take lightly a dangerous figure appearing in such a serious situation.

Above all, connecting Viktor to the curse of the Mystic Power wielders explained everything.

Amon knew that Viktor’s ultimate goal wasn’t simply transferring his brain into a machine.

That was just a way to overcome the limitations of lifespan. His real goal was something else.

[Project Artificial Saint – Mystic Power Impartation Technology]

His ultimate goal was the technology to artificially create Mystic Power wielders.

A technology that, if successful, could propel them to the top tier of megacorps.

However, the process was the problem.

‘Compression of Mystic Power wielders…’

His proposed method was to gather the Divine Power of multiple wielders into a single vessel, creating an artificial child of God.

Like the Holy Son or Holy Daughter in the Bible.

By concentrating Divine Power into one person, transforming them into such a being, they could artificially produce Divine Power wielders, just as the Holy Daughter transformed the 12 disciples into apostles in the Bible.

The only problem was that during the compression process, the vessel’s humanity would be erased, and those who had their Divine Power taken would also lose their lives.

As his thoughts reached this point, the scattered fragments of truth fell into place.

‘Crazy…’

He was wide awake now.

Knowing the truth, there was no way he could choose to go to that company.

Amon immediately removed the corporation from his career options.

‘This isn’t enough.’

He also removed mercenary work from the list.

To a corporation, orphaned mercenaries with no connections were easy targets for abduction.

In the end, there was only one option left.

‘Damn… the Vatican…’

He wasn’t thrilled about it.

To Amon, who believed the corruption of those who served God was the ultimate insult to God, the Vatican was a city of sin.

But realistically, there was no other choice.

‘Lord, forgive my cowardice.’

Amon finished his prayer and organized his thoughts.

‘I’ll tell the priest tomorrow morning.’

He didn’t know the priest’s true identity, but the one teaching Amon and Sonia seemed to be a significant figure within the Vatican.

If he expressed his intention to join the Vatican, the priest would likely be able to protect them from the corporation’s clutches.

The next day, after Amon had devised a strategy to the best of his ability, he was met with the world’s spite.

“What? You already applied for the field trip?”
By a single day, Sonia had already applied for a trial run.

When Amon woke up, Sonia had already contacted the company.

She had chosen a field trip approach since she couldn’t decide immediately.

She had already informed the headquarters.

Taken aback by the sudden turn of events, Amon couldn’t help but ask:

“What about me?”

A question implying, “Are you going without me?”

But Sonia simply shook her head.

“It’s their busy hiring season, so they’re apparently very busy. They said they accidentally only sent the invitation to me. So I’m going alone.”

Her answer, far from satisfying Amon, only confused him further.

‘Alone?’

Why?

There were two Divine Power wielders, but only Sonia was invited?

What was the Higzen Group thinking?

But that wasn’t important right now.

The important thing was that Sonia was in danger.

‘Should I tell Sonia the truth?’

The thought briefly crossed his mind, but he immediately shook his head and dismissed it.

There were too many listening ears and watching eyes.

If Amon revealed the Higzen Group’s secret, it wouldn’t be surprising if a missile landed on the orphanage.

The secret, which was their lifeline, was that valuable.

Amon’s first step was persuasion.

“You know that multiple Divine Power wielders have joined Higzen Group, right?”

“Yeah. They all disappeared.”

“Then why are you going?”

“That’s…”

Sonia’s eyes darted around.

She couldn’t outright say that it was a strategy to raise her value by alerting the Vatican by pretending to go to the corporation.

She had no intention of actually going, but even pretending would likely force the Vatican to offer better terms.

Lest she appear materialistic to Amon, she deflected the topic with a careless remark.

“While I’m at Higzen Group headquarters, you can go to the Vatican. How efficient is that?”

Amon didn’t have time to respond to Sonia’s optimism.

Hundreds of strategies to save her were being formulated in his mind.

‘Damn… if only I were still Purple Guy, I could do something…’

At least as Purple Guy, if he pushed himself, he had the specs to take on a megacorp.

Compared to that, Amon’s current specs were barely enough to deal with a single crazy gorilla.

A completely different level.

Of course, there was no such thing as transformation in reality, so Amon was currently utterly powerless.

In the end, after much deliberation, he reached a single conclusion.

‘Stop Sonia from going.’

Somehow, keep her away from the corporation.

At least until the day she goes to the Vatican.

Amon firmly grasped Sonia’s shoulders, looked her in the eyes, and said,

“Instead of going to a place like that, let’s go somewhere together. Let’s make some memories before graduation.”

“Where?”

“Uh…”

Naturally, he hadn’t thought of a destination, having come up with the idea on the spot.

Amon rolled his eyes, then somehow managed to form a word.

“Res…ort?”

Hearing Amon’s strained suggestion, Sonia’s face brightened.

“Just the two of us?”

Amon nodded without thinking.

Sonia’s face flushed crimson.

Their younger siblings and the nuns, who had overheard them, shrieked and punched each other’s shoulders.

The director, passing by, nodded with a benevolent smile and murmured:

“Ho ho. Young love.”

That afternoon, the section chief at Higzen Group received a call.

[Yes. I’m so sorry. Something suddenly came up…]

“Not at all. Please let us know whenever you’re free. We’ll come pick you up.”

The section chief responded to Sonia in a gentle and considerate voice.

After a few more apologies from Sonia, the call ended.

Click.

Casually placing the disconnected phone back on the receiver, the section chief appeared lost in thought for a moment.

Then, he picked up the receiver again.

“Hello? Connect me to Special Operations. Yes, it’s me. I’d like you to send me a report on those Vatican zealots. I’m requesting this as acting representative of the chairman.”

The section chief’s glasses glinted ominously under the light.

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