Chapter 15

A few days after the incident with Jimmy.

Amon couldn’t sleep at all due to the uneasiness.

There are always small signs before a big event.

Having experienced the “Light Path Ending” in his previous life by ignoring a small sign like a headache, Amon decided not to ignore the small signs this time.

“This is a quest precursor.”

An incident where a graduate threatens someone with a gun isn’t a big deal.

It’s just a precursor.

A sign that something bigger is coming.

The only scenario Amon could imagine was Jimmy going crazy, leading a gang, and attacking the orphanage.

So, Amon couldn’t relax and tossed and turned in bed.

“Damn it. Guess I’m not sleeping tonight.”

Amon got up from bed and scratched his head.

Careful not to wake his roommate, he got up and sat at his desk.

He turned on his laptop and searched for information about his future.

A routine he’d been repeating for the past few days when he couldn’t sleep.

So far, he had searched for information about the Mercenary Association and the Vatican’s history and incidents.

Tonight, it was the Hixen Group’s turn.

“<The History of the Hixen Group...>”

Amon carefully typed and searched for the history of the Hixen Group.

“Founded 38 years ago…”

If we go by the third installment, it was 11 years after the True Ending.

After the True Ending, many megacorps fell, and new rookies rose. Hixen seemed to be one of those surviving rookies.

“Main business is distribution. They’ve expanded globally under the name Hixen Mart.”

Not the largest distributor in the U.S., but still a significant supermarket franchise.

When Amon heard that Hixen stood shoulder-to-shoulder with other megacorps through distribution alone, the first thing that came to mind was doubt.

“What kind of magic did they pull?”

A megacorp, or Megacorp, isn’t a title given to some mediocre company just because it has money.

It’s a title reserved for companies that are irreplaceable, even beyond the reach of nations, reigning above the law.

The businesses megacorps deal with include military industries that can chew through public authority, food industries directly tied to life, and media industries that governments can manipulate at will.

For Hixen to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with such companies through distribution meant they had something special that others couldn’t replicate.

That special something wasn’t hard to find.

It was plastered right on their homepage.

<Hixen Mart has everything except what you can't find! If you can't find what you're looking for, ask an employee! We'll get it for you within 2 hours!>

<Our 24-hour operating factory underground will make whatever you want on the spot!>

They fill out-of-stock items within 2 hours, even if they have to make them.

Literally, a discount mart with everything except what you can’t find.

They even have pharmacies and gun shops, making it a place where you can get literally anything.

At first glance, it seemed like the pinnacle of service industry.

But behind this overwhelming service lurked darkness.

“Wow, no unions, no workers’ compensation?”

That’s what was written on the wiki page about the Hixen Group.

The Hixen Group has no unions.

Things like the four major insurances in Korea don’t apply here.

What about the constitution?

Megacorps reign above the constitution.

“As expected of a cyberpunk world.”

Only in such a worldview could something like this be done so casually.

Anyway, this was Hixen Group’s weapon.

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

In other words, their identity as a comprehensive mart with everything except what you can’t find was their weapon.

But seeing this raised a new question.

“Why do they want me and Sonia?”

Is there a need for Divine Power in the distribution industry?

Even if there is, is there a reason to want it this badly?

With that question in mind, Amon typed two keywords into the search bar.

<Hixen Group>. And <Mystic Power>.

After typing the two words and hitting enter, the results Amon expected appeared.

From the top of the search results and beyond, articles about the Hixen Group and Mystic Power were listed.

<The Curse of the Hixen Group and Mystic Power>

Among them, Amon read the most well-organized article.

And when he scrolled to the end of the article, Amon couldn’t close his mouth.

“All Mystic Power holders who joined the Hixen Group since its founding have died… huh.”

The story went something like this.

The first Mystic Power holder joined the Hixen Group but died during a night shift.

At the time, he cursed the Hixen Group as he died, and since then, Mystic Power holders who joined the company didn’t last more than a year before dying.

In a world where ghosts really exist, people believed that a curse had attached itself to the Hixen Group’s name.

Some said it was sabotage by other megacorps, while others said it was noise marketing by the Hixen Group.

Just a little searching by Amon brought up all sorts of conspiracy theories, showing how severe the drought of Mystic Power in the Hixen Group was.

But Amon didn’t take this rumor at face value.

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

If it’s been repeating since the founding, there’s something to it.

Maybe among the absurd conspiracy theories, there’s a grain of truth.

Amon quickly moved his fingers.

Like a spy uncovering corporate secrets in a movie, he abused the search engine to gather information.

But there wasn’t much to gain.

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

Workers die every day, and police investigating the company die.

Just your average Megacorp.

There was no information here related to Mystic Power.

Just as Amon was about to end his information gathering, rubbing his tired eyes,

A category in the corner of the homepage caught his eye.

Management.

Amon checked the management as if hypnotized.

He looked through the chairman and executives one by one, slowly scrolling down.

“Chairman, no idea who. Vice chairman, no idea who.”

The scroll stopped about halfway down.

“Hixen Group, Battery Division President. Victor N.N.?”

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

At first, he didn’t recognize it immediately, but after repeating it a few times due to a sense of déjà vu, he remembered where he’d heard it.

“Why is that crazy guy…?”

Victor was the doctor who had the insane idea of transferring his consciousness to a robot in an Easter egg.

It was just an Easter egg, so nothing came of it, but he never expected to see that guy here.

“Chance of it being a namesake?”

None.

Victor N.N.

How many eccentrics with such a unique name are there in the world?

Besides, Amon isn’t someone who believes in coincidences.

He wasn’t naive enough to take a dangerous figure who popped up in such a serious situation lightly.

Above all, linking Victor to the curse of Mystic Power holders explained everything.

Amon knew that Victor’s ultimate goal wasn’t just transferring brains to machines.

That was just a method to overcome the limits of lifespan; his real goal was something else.

<Project Artificial Saintess - Divine Power Granting Technology>

His ultimate goal was technology to artificially create Divine Power holders.

If successful, it was technology that could elevate him to the top tier among megacorps.

However, the process was the problem.

“Compression of Divine Power holders…”

The method he proposed was to concentrate the Divine Power of multiple holders into one vessel to create an artificial child of God.

You know, like the saints (聖子) or saintesses (聖女) in the Bible.

By concentrating Divine Power into one person, they could be reborn as such a being, and just as the saintess in the Bible turned the 12 disciples into apostles, they could artificially produce Divine Power holders.

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

Once his thoughts reached that point, all the scattered pieces of the truth fell into place.

“Crazy…”

Sleep fled instantly.

Now that he knew the truth, joining that company was out of the question.

Amon immediately removed the company from his career options.

“That’s not enough.”

He also removed mercenary work from his options.

Orphan mercenaries with no connections? From a company’s perspective, they could just kidnap them.

In the end, there was only one option.

“Damn… the Vatican…”

He wasn’t thrilled.

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

But realistically, there was no other choice.

“Lord, forgive this coward.”

Amon finished his prayer and organized his thoughts.

“I’ll talk to the priest tomorrow morning.”

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

If he expressed his intention to convert to the Vatican, the priest could likely protect them from the company’s clutches.

After Amon strategized as much as he could, the next day.

“What? You want to go on a field trip?”

Sonia brought it up the very next day after deciding to be wary of the Hixen Group.

This was enough to baffle Amon.

“Alone?”

“Yeah. I was invited alone, but if I ask, maybe we can go together?”

Amon was confused.

Why?

There are two Divine Power holders, so why is only Sonia being invited?

What is the Hixen Group thinking?

But that wasn’t the important part right now.

The important part was that Sonia was in danger.

“Should I tell Sonia the truth?”

For a moment, that thought crossed his mind, but he quickly shook his head and dismissed it.

There are too many ears and eyes.

If Amon spilled the Hixen Group’s secrets, it wouldn’t be strange if a missile fell on the orphanage.

Their secret, akin to a forbidden wish, held that much value.

For now, Amon’s first step was persuasion.

“You know that Divine Power holders have gone missing multiple times at the Hixen Group, right?”

“Really? I didn’t know that…”

Sonia was also taken aback.

Amon asked how this situation came about.

“How did this suddenly happen?”

“I got an email yesterday. I thought you got one too…”

“You should’ve researched what kind of company it is.”

“Sorry…”

Sonia bowed her head.

She looked up at Amon with a pitiful expression, like a stray cat.

“What should I do…? I already said I’d go…”

“Cancel it.”

“Okay…”

Sonia slumped her shoulders and headed to the computer.

Somehow, it felt like she was being scolded, which made Amon uneasy.

‘It’s all Hixen’s fault.’

Getting tangled with one group made life exhausting.

“…If only I were in my Violet Dragon state, I could’ve handled it.”

At least in his Violet Dragon state, he could take on a Megacorp.

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

The difference was staggering.

Of course, transformations don’t exist in reality, so Amon was utterly powerless now.

‘I need power.’

In his helplessness, Amon looked at the back of Sonia’s head with pity.

*

Meanwhile, Sonia was dejectedly canceling the field trip.

‘I was looking forward to it…’

Experiencing something new is always exciting. But more than that, she was looking forward to going with Amon.

She was purely looking forward to a new experience with Amon.

But in any case, excitement can’t be traded for safety.

She suppressed her disappointment and sent the cancellation email.

‘Sigh…’

She slumped her shoulders and left her room.

In front of her, Amon suddenly held out a ticket.

“Ta-da.”

“Huh? What’s this?”

“Blue Moon Resort reservation.”

“Suddenly? Wait, why?”

“We need to make memories before we graduate. The priest just told us to go.”

Hearing that, Sonia’s face brightened.

“Just the two of us?”

Amon nodded.

Resort, just the two of them, and adults.

Combining those three words, Sonia’s face turned as red as a beet.

The sisters and nuns nearby overheard and let out high-pitched screams, hitting each other’s shoulders.

The director, who happened to be passing by, smiled warmly and nodded.

“Hoho. Youth.”

***

That afternoon, the Hixen Group’s manager received a call.

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

“No problem. Let us know when you’re free next time. We’ll come to pick you up.”

The manager responded kindly to Sonia.

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

Click-

After carelessly placing the phone back on the receiver, the manager seemed to ponder something for a moment.

After a while.

He picked up the phone again.

“Hello? Connect me to the Special Affairs Department. Yeah, it’s me. Could you send me a report on the Vatican religious nuts? As the chairman’s proxy, I’m asking.”

The manager’s glasses gleamed ominously under the light.

---