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A black SUV cut across the city.
It slipped through a tunnel of neon-lit buildings and rolled into a crowded plaza.
— Give the Undead the right to vote! Give them healthcare!
On one side, a protest for Undead rights raged.
On the other, a holographic propaganda reel urged citizens to become Undead and volunteer for war.
— Grab a weapon for your family. Protect the city for the future. You can be a hero too.
Inside the car, the noise faded beneath a sweet pop track.
<I’ll kill you~♬
“I’ll kill you~”
<My circuits may rust away~ Even if my mana dries up~♬
“Even if it dries up~”
Annoyed by Frank’s ad-libbing, Baek Ho thumbed a switch beside the steering wheel.
A thick partition slid down between the back seat - where Frank sat - and the front. Frank’s coquettish interjections vanished.
“Seems Frank’s a fan of I_Vu?”
Sophia, in the passenger seat, glanced over while Baek Ho drove.
“Look at his clothes.”
“Clothes?”
She peeked toward the back. On Frank’s T-shirt, a singer belted with mouth wide open, framed by a purple heart pierced with a pink dagger… symbol of Underheaven’s most famous girl group, I_Vu.
“I only noticed now…”
“It’s on his underwear too.”
“Good heavens…”
An unfortunate image flashed through Sophia’s mind. She changed the subject quickly.
“Um… Frank never had his memory reset, right?”
“Right. I took him right before enlistment. Paid for his Reaper conversion myself.”
“That can’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t.”
Unlike ordinary Undead conversion, an Awakener must have their memories reset to become a Reaper… too many side effects otherwise.
“Do you plan to keep avoiding it? If his brain issues continue, he’ll turn Mad Eater. His intelligence looks like it’s already slipping… doesn’t it?”
Baek Ho stared ahead in silence, steering. Just as Sophia gave up on an answer, he spoke.
“I’d rather be an idiot than forget everything.”
“Is that really the issue now? Mad… ”
“Shut up and let’s go.”
“…Yes.”
Conversation died. The song ended; the radio host’s chatter spilled in.
<Underheaven citizens! Fuck, did you see the weather today? Isn’t it perfect for stepping out of the buildings for a walk? In the old days they used to call that a “trip”! Leaving the city for a strange place! Haha! People used to call group suicide a trip, I guess?
Baek Ho turned the wheel and descended into the inner levels of a megabuilding.
This was the residential stack where Deiven… today’s target… had lived.
Being a lowest-grade tower, trash piled even at the parking entrance.
While he searched for a spot, a faint vibration ticked on the back of his left hand.
A private hologram flickered in the corner of his vision… Elise, the acquaintance he’d asked to dig into Sophia.
He slid a glance at Sophia… the Reaper he’d met at the bar, who’d reappeared with a job. He could finally learn who she was.
The chat vanished; a Reaper profile opened.
His brow tightened. Everything blocked except the conversion company.
If even a hacking specialist like Elise hit walls, there were two possibilities: notorious criminal… or a Reaper tied to the upper echelons.
Could it be…
Father?
No. Impossible.
He hadn’t stopped Baek Ho at all when he threw away the commander’s dream and left. Unlike his angry sister and a tearful aunt, Father never spared a glance… never contacted him since.
He closed the window and checked Sophia again.
She was watching him too.
“Aren’t you getting out?”
“…I will.”
Baek Ho drew a revolver from his coat.
Aiming it past the glass at vagrants pressed to the window, he decided: whatever this woman’s identity…
He wouldn’t trust it.
Ding…
The elevator doors opened and a foul stench rolled in.
“Start.”
Baek Ho nudged Frank forward.
“Damn! Smells like shit!”
Frank puffed up and widened his eyes, baring his teeth as he glowered everywhere… at the central lounge where vagrants roasted something, at hallways full of drug-staggering bodies and couples glued together.
“If you don’t want to die, get lost!”
Mana bled from his fists, announcing him as a Reaper.
Only then did the many stares peel away. Even the gang look-out quietly opened a unit door and slipped out.
“Surprising,” Sophia murmured.
“What is?”
“Yesterday you seemed unfamiliar with the city. Today you don’t.”
“Ah, so they were faking it.”
“Faking? D. It’s common to work with brokers. Especially if you’ve been in the Fixers’ Association less than a year… it’s sometimes recommended.”
“I know.”
Using Frank as a wedge, they moved down the corridor.
After several doors, they reached Deiven’s.
Click…
The bell made no sound.
Sophia knocked; a frightened woman’s voice wavered from inside.
—Who is it…
“We called this morning…”
Before Sophia finished, the door flew open.
“Oh, you came…”
The woman’s face was haggard, shoulders trembling. Behind her stood a little girl clutching a dog doll, and a man in a neat suit.
Screeech—
The man rose with a sharp inhale on his cigarette.
“Who are you?”
“And who are you?”
He scoffed at Baek Ho’s answer, flicked the badge on his chest: Superhuman Management Department. A government Reaper.
“Fixers, huh?”
He exhaled smoke and sauntered over, shoving Deiven’s wife aside. His eyes dragged over Sophia, then up to Frank, who barely fit the doorway. Another scoff.
In a house like this, no top Fixer would show. He took them for low-rank Reapers relying on physique.
“Contract’s void. All of you, out.”
“If you refuse… ”
“…You bastard.”
He blew smoke into Baek Ho’s face.
“Don’t act up. I’m on a different level.”
“We’ll see. I think we’re equals.”
“What? Equals? This guy’s got jokes.”
He twitched the cigarette.
Smoke curled on its own, circled Baek Ho’s face once, then vanished… his little display as a mage-class.
“Leave while I’m being nice.”
“Put out your cigarette. There’s a kid behind you.”
“…”
His face crumpled. How dare they act like this?
In his experience, types like these were either newly made Reapers or freshly reset vessels… bold enough to look a government agent in the eye.
“You picked the wrong people to mess with today.”
He flicked his left hand to work his Smartbone… querying identities with government privileges.
“…Hm?”
He frowned, blinked his right eye, wondering if the ocular implant had glitched.
“What’s wrong with this…”
There are only two reasons the central system can’t query you: either you’re a high-risk criminal with erased records… or you’re a Necromancer.
“Ahem.”
A high-risk criminal wouldn’t stroll around the city like this.
Which left… Necromancer.
Sure, some Necromancers worked as Fixers, but they were expensive… corporate or elite clients only. Not this kind of Undeadog job.
“Who exactly are you…?”
Baek Ho lifted a hand toward the wavering agent.
Black mist rose from his palm, wrapping the man’s face in a single coil.
“Put your cigarette out.”
The man’s mouth sagged; the cigarette thudded to the floor.
Sophia chuckled at his sudden pallor.
“Right. Really on a different level.”
Baek Ho had never hidden his profession when he started Fixer work. He’d even applied for a rank upgrade… the association refused to acknowledge it.
He knew why: likely the influence of his aunt, high in the central government.
“Is this everything?…”
Deiven’s wife asked.
Baek Ho closed the message and looked over the items spread out on the table… things taken from Deiven’s factory locker.
“Hm…”
He’d heard Undeadog work usually started from scraps like these. There wasn’t much to go on.
As they sifted, a familiar word snagged his eye.
“…Undeadog?”
He picked up a stiff, rectangular slip… a preorder certificate. Pickup date: today. His daughter’s name was printed on it.
He looked at the girl peeking from behind her mother, curious. Following her gaze, Frank was curled like a pillbug in the living room corner… his way of avoiding damage to the furniture.
“…”
The embarrassment belonged to Baek Ho.
He turned away… and spotted a grubby dog doll. Deiven’s voice from the VO echoed in his mind: No matter how many times I look, it’s good. I’m happy. He remembered the bloodshot eyes fixed on his daughter’s photo. Her birthday was only days away.
“…Alright.”
He snapped his fingers and stood.
He vaulted over Frank and headed for the door.
“Our Necromancer seems to have a plan,” Sophia said, smiling.
“Ah… yes…”
“Then we’ll be going.” She bowed politely and waved at Frank. “Hurry up and get up and leave…”
“Help me. I’ve got a cramp.”
After they left, the home shrank back to two.
“Mom…”
The girl tugged on her mother’s sleeve.
“You’re hungry, right? It’s already… ”
“No… this…”
She held up the dog doll. One ear was singed with cigarette ash.
“Oh dear… Mommy will clean it.”
The mother took the doll and started for the bathroom, but the girl tugged again.
“When is Daddy coming…?”
“…”
Something surged up the mother’s throat… grief covered in all kinds of bitterness.
“He’ll be back… soon…”
“He promised… he’d buy me a doll for my birthday this time…”
Her lips trembled. She knew he couldn’t make it by the birthday… maybe never again.
“Daddy will definitely come by then…”
“Really?”
No.
She swallowed the truth. She couldn’t crush the shine in her daughter’s eyes. She wanted to give hope… just for a day.
“…Do you remember the handsome big brother from earlier?”
The girl nodded.
“That gentleman is a Necromancer… You know necromancers from fairy tales, right?”
“Yeah. I saw them in storybooks.”
“Right… That Necromancer said he’d bring Daddy back. So let’s wait…”
She stroked her daughter’s head. If fairy tales always painted necromancers as heroes, maybe it would soothe her.
But the girl shook her head.
“No.”
“…Huh?”
“Necromancers are bad.”
“Mei… Mei, you can’t say that…”
“Daddy said so. He said they’re scary and you should avoid them. If you stare, they’ll take you away.”
The mother’s throat bobbed. She realized she’d said the same things… especially about Necromanders, the commanders who fought on the front.
“No… that’s…”
Why did I tell her that?
Just as her last hope crumbled…
Knock, knock…
Someone rapped on the door.
Before she could ask, it swung open.
She hadn’t locked it.
She lunged, missed the handle… then exhaled.
“M-Mister Necromancer…”
Baek Ho stood on the threshold.
“Sorry. It was slightly open.”
“I was distracted… but why did you come back…?”
“I brought something.”
He stepped in, passed the mother, and stopped before the girl.
He offered a rectangular box. The girl looked up, wary.
“Your daddy told me to give you this.”
“…My daddy?”
She took the box with small hands. Opened it. Inside lay a pure-white dog doll.
“Wow!”
A fresh smile bloomed on her face like a revived flower.
“Is this mine? Really? For real?”
The doll she’d wanted so badly, always eyed with envy.
An Undeadog.
“Consider it an early birthday present.”
“Waa!”
He placed a hand on her head; the corner of his mouth lifted… stiff and awkward, but honest.
“And he asked me to tell you this: there are Necromancers in the world you can trust.”
He’d overheard the conversation from outside.
“For example… me?”
The girl nodded hard.
“I’ll bring your daddy back. Wait for him.”
“Yes!”
Then he turned to the mother, who hovered in hesitation.
“S-Sir Necromancer, my daughter didn’t know and misspoke…”
He stepped close, voice low and quiet.
“Don’t ever let it be discovered.”
“…Yes?”
Her eyes flicked to him. He was looking down at the girl squeezing the Undeadog… no, at the faint blue light shining from the girl’s heart.
“Protect your daughter.”
“…”
“The Superhuman Academy is a worse hell than this place.”
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