2 — Chapter 1: E Between D And F - DF(2)
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Inside a bar filled with pounding music.
Sophia, hood pulled low, studied Baek Ho’s face intently.
‘He really does look like the commander.’
Black eyes glimmered faintly through the haze of cigarette smoke.
Dark hair carelessly swept back.
Pale, clear skin that contrasted with sharp, masculine features.
‘And the Reaper sitting across from him…’
A massive frame. Muscles straining as if they might burst free. A thick, jet-black mechanical arm.
His hair was slicked back with oil, his blunt expression oddly plain, making him seem less threatening despite his size.
“Hmph…”
Sophia couldn’t help but smile.
The two men looked mismatched, yet somehow perfectly paired.
Once, they had been best friends as humans. Now, even as a necromancer and a Reaper, that bond still held.
Perhaps her gaze lingered too long.
Baek Ho and Frank both turned toward her.
Sophia quickly averted her eyes, pretending not to notice, and raised the beer glass to her lips.
‘Time to go.’
She hadn’t come here for anything more than curiosity.
The son of the most powerful necromancer alive.
A rising talent once expected to command future battlefronts.
And yet, the cadet who had abruptly disappeared, abandoning all that attention and expectation.
Baek Ho.
Until today, she had thought of him only as the lucky heir of a strong bloodline.
But seeing him in person was different.
Perhaps it was the Baek family’s unique bond with Reapers… but the more she looked, the more extraordinary he seemed.
Sophia found herself captivated, not as a woman watching a man, but as a Reaper drawn to one who bore magic.
If Reapers with such a rare affinity for magic were common, life itself would have been unbearable.
Tap…
Her Smartbone activated with a thought, visible only to her, controlled by eyes and brainwaves alone.
[Commander, I’m returning now.]
She sent the message and slipped out of the bar.
Baek Ho’s gaze lingered on the window, scanning the street outside as though searching for something.
But all he found were neon signs and swaying drunks.
No target.
“Hm?”
His eyes sharpened when something caught his attention.
The brown-haired woman from the bar… Sophia… lowered her hood and stepped onto the main street.
‘Even here, a Reaper shows herself.’
Around Sophia’s heart shimmered a faint aura of dark blue and black.
The density and color revealed it as magic… an aura only Baek Ho could see.
Following her movement, his eyes shifted… and landed on an unpleasant sight.
At the end of a side alley, Frank stood cornered by three men in a place that reeked of piss.
“Ha…”
Baek Ho pressed his temple and rose from his seat.
Whoosh…
The damp night air rushed in with the sound of rain.
Shielding himself with an umbrella, he strode toward the alley.
Just as he arrived, a reggae-haired thug drove his fist into Frank’s stomach.
“This bastard’s built like a rock!”
Two others pinned Frank’s arms.
“This isn’t even prosthetic. How the hell is it possible?”
“If he fights back, we’re screwed…”
“He’s Undead anyway! He can’t resist humans!”
Frank only looked down at them with dull eyes.
No pain. No intention of resisting.
“How much for both legs?”
“Who’s got the axe? Hand it over.”
From afar, they might have looked like rough nephews crowding their uncle, but their words dripped with cruelty.
“Let’s start by gouging his eyes.”
“Good idea. Want me to do it?”
The reggae-haired man scowled.
“This is why I hate rookies. You disable the Smartbone first. Cut the hands.”
“Right, right. Sorry, boss.”
As they argued, a translucent window appeared before Frank’s eyes.
Frank rolled his eyes toward Baek Ho, who stood nearby, and replied.
Baek Ho pushed through the rain toward them.
The men noticed and turned.
“Huh?”
“What, he came out already?”
Two looked indifferent, but the reggae-haired one scowled.
“Shit… hurry up.”
Baek Ho shoved a hand into his coat pocket and sent another message.
He pulled out a revolver and aimed it at them.
“If you don’t want to die, drop your… “
Click…
The reggae-haired man’s wrist twisted, a muzzle sliding from beneath his sleeve.
The others yanked submachine guns from their coats, aiming at Baek Ho.
“…”
Another message flashed before Baek Ho’s eyes.
Frank’s lips curled into a grin, fish-like.
“Damn.”
Baek Ho’s eyebrow twitched.
As always, Frank mocked him in silence.
Still, he forced his voice to sound calm.
“Put your weapons away while you still can.”
The men scoffed.
“What the hell’s this idiot saying?”
“Should we just shoot him?”
“No. Killing a human is trouble. Let’s just… “
Bang!
Baek Ho’s revolver fired.
The bullet tore into the reggae-haired man’s neck, blood spraying.
“Shit!”
“C-crazy bastard!”
The other two opened fire.
Muzzles roared, bullets tearing through the rain.
But sparks lit the alley as something blocked them.
Frank had raised his right arm, intercepting the barrage.
“Wha… !”
Their eyes widened.
His arm had transformed into a rounded shield of steel.
A dark blue glow coursed through veins of circuitry.
“Necroshell!”
The realization froze them.
A body converted into a mechanical shell, powered by magic.
An Awakening turned Undead.
A Reaper.
“Why is a Reaper here…?”
Unlike ordinary Undead, Reapers could kill.
Frank’s dull eyes glimmered with anger.
“Please! Spare us!”
“We didn’t know!”
The men dropped their guns, groveling.
“We didn’t know you were a Reaper!”
Baek Ho’s gaze cut down at them like a blade.
“Are you part of some gang?”
“N-no!”
“Then what?”
“Just vagrants… living day by day!”
He scanned them.
Their tattered clothes proved the claim… unlike the reggae-haired man, whose neat attire and mechanical implants marked him apart.
“He’s your boss, right?”
Baek Ho nodded toward the bleeding man.
The body lay still, eyes glassy, blood mixing with rain.
“Y-yes!”
“We only followed his orders!”
“Really?”
Baek Ho scraped his revolver against his own side and extended his hand.
Black mist curled from his palm, coiling around the reggae-haired man’s wound.
With a hiss, the bullet popped free. Flesh knit itself shut.
“Gah! Gkk!”
The thug convulsed, clutching his throat as he rose, choking.
The groveling men gasped.
“Eek!”
“He was dead… !”
Necromancer. Reaper. Both.
But resurrection wasn’t possible with a mere gesture.
Which meant… the reggae-haired man had been Undead all along.
“I-I was serving an Undead this whole time?”
“No wonder people kept avoiding him!”
“Shut up.”
Frank slapped them unconscious with one blow each.
The revived man trembled before Baek Ho.
“P-please…”
Baek Ho ignored the plea and raised a hologram.
A wanted poster. No face. Just text.
“Sentenced as Undead for attempted murder. Drafted, deserted. Current charges: kidnapping, dismantling Undead, illegal prosthetic trade. You’ve done plenty.”
“That’s not me…”
The revolver rose to the man’s forehead.
No, to the heart behind it… the Life Vessel.
If shattered, no necromancer could revive him.
“Best to kill you here.”
“W-wait!”
The man stared into Baek Ho’s eyes.
Dark, endless… like the rift Baek Ho once saw on the frontlines.
As if some grotesque being might crawl forth at any moment.
“Yes, yes, it’s me! Please! Spare me!”
Baek Ho’s lips curved faintly.
“Good choice. I’ll spare you.”
“Thank you… “
“But.”
His finger flicked the Gunarm attached to the man’s wrist.
“I’ll be taking this.”
“…What?”
“I’ve been sitting at that window for two nights waiting for you. Consider it payment for drinks.”
Rumble…
A train thundered past the building, shaking the room.
Noise was constant with railcars running beneath the floors.
“Fee? What a joke.”
Baek Ho hung his black leather coat.
“Right. Robbery, really.”
Frank dropped his sleeveless coat over the window, muting the racket.
“How long are we going to keep scraping off scumbags like this… tch.”
Baek Ho tossed the blood-stained Gunarm onto the desk. A nameplate clattered to the ground.
‘Fixer D.’
“At least the overdue rent’s paid. Now we can eat again.”
“Frank is tired.”
He collapsed onto the mattress.
Baek Ho glared, then slumped onto the battered sofa.
This was all their office held.
One window. One desk. One mattress. One sofa.
One human. One Undead.
“Then let’s rest a bit and… “
“Baek Ho.”
“What.”
“Let’s quit the Fixer business.”
“Why.”
“Business is terrible.”
“It’ll get better.”
“Let’s leave the city. Hunt demons. Sell the cores.”
“No.”
Baek Ho lit a cigarette.
“With our skills, we’d last a week at most.”
“Nah.”
“This isn’t school anymore. We’re just a necromancer and a Reaper now. You know it.”
Frank had no rebuttal.
“So what do we do? Not enough jobs.”
“Right. Maybe pray all the fancy Fixers upstairs die off.”
“Let’s go to a broker. Necromancers are in demand.”
“Do it even if you don’t like it. We need money.”
Baek Ho pulled a large box from under the desk.
Stuffed with dog-shaped dolls.
“Let’s start.”
He set one on the desk and breathed black magic into it.
The doll blinked.
Necromancer-made moving dolls… popular among citizens, the best side hustle they had.
Beep…
He switched it off and handed it to Frank.
Frank sulked as he shoved it into a box.
“Too small. Frank is depressed.”
“How about jajangmyeon tomorrow?”
Frank’s lips twitched.
“…Okay.”
Rustle, rustle…
For a moment, the room filled with the quiet sound of doll-making.
Then…
A knock at the door.
“Oh!”
Frank grabbed the box and leapt up.
He flung the door wide.
“Welcome! Fixer D and F… everything except murder!”
Baek Ho stood too, ready to snuff out his cigarette.
But at the door, a brown-haired woman leaned past Frank.
“Is this the Fixer office?”
Wide eyes. A sly curve of the lips.
No mechanical parts in sight.
It was Sophia… the Reaper from the bar.
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Necromancer 2088
Chapter 2 / 30