Became a Mechromancer - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21.
Pursuit (1)
Late at night.
A hotel suite in Yeouido District 2.
The door opened and Susan entered with a weary expression, tossing her luggage carelessly onto the sofa. “Change it to a moonlit forest,” she said.
“Change it to a moonlit forest.”
-Applying immediately.
As the attendant android provided by the hotel blinked with a blue light, the air in the suite transformed, now carrying the scent of a dawn forest laden with dew.
Moments later.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the glittering night skyline of the metropolis vanished, replaced by a forest bathed in soft moonlight.
When Susan lifted her gaze, the ceiling unveiled countless twinkling stars and a massive moon suspended between them, creating an ethereal atmosphere.
Truly….
“This country takes content seriously.”
A mark of envy.
Such aesthetic sensibility would be unthinkable in an American hotel.
Susan pulled her top down below her shoulders.
The wound inflicted by the masked man became visible.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been cut.”
She walked to her luggage and retrieved a potion bottle.
Pop.
She uncorked it and poured the contents over the wound.
Along with a sharp sting, the flesh healed seamlessly.
‘The high-grade potion provided by the Changtian Clan truly is different.’
The world really does come down to….
“Power and money.”
She rotated her shoulder to check it, then headed toward the table.
From her black long coat, she withdrew filming drones one by one, arranging them on the table.
“Connect these for me.”
The attendant android brought a docking port and connected the drones.
-Footage transfer complete.
Upon hearing the android’s report, Susan walked toward the zero-gravity capsule.
One reason she had chosen this hotel.
Zero-gravity wireless dive equipment.
Though she needed to attach a thin film-type transmission device to the dive port at the nape of her neck, the greatest advantage was the absence of burden and the pristine comfort of the interior.
Whoosh.
With the sound of air releasing, the entrance of the glass sphere opened.
Upon entering, her body immediately began to float.
And then.
Her vision turned pure white….
My consciousness plunged into the world of data.
.
.
.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a vast ocean of code—an endless sea of transmission signals and information waves flowing gently across the expanse.
Susan flicked her fingers.
Whoooosh—.
Fragments of code coalesced, and a massive door materialized before me.
Boom!
The door swung open with a thunderous impact.
Beyond it stretched an immense editing space.
I stepped inside.
Dozens of video data files captured by the drones moments ago floated in the air like crystals, glowing with a soft luminescence.
Hmm….
‘Let me see.’
Susan reached out with practiced ease and pulled the crystal that appeared to be the starting point toward her.
The crystal unfurled like a screen.
I shaped my fingers into scissors.
Snip.
The elongated screen divided into dozens of segments.
This goes here.
And this shows the intersection.
“This part is useless, so I’ll delete it….”
Muttering to myself, I continued dragging crystals and editing the footage.
After several minutes, I finished editing and spread my fingers to enlarge the screen.
A masked man of unknown identity.
Around him, dust writhed like a living creature.
I narrowed my eyes and played back the moment my shoulder was attacked in slow motion.
The dust compressed and coalesced, piercing my shoulder in an instant.
No matter how much I observed, only more questions arose.
I’d never heard of such a technique before.
Was it an ability to manipulate the atmosphere?
Or did he compress dust in an instant?
Dozens of possibilities came to mind, but none of them made sense.
Even searching the dark web for similar cases yielded nothing.
Eventually, a hollow laugh escaped me.
For now.
I concluded it was telekinesis with aggressive properties.
Then I extracted the masked man’s data and fed it into a 3D avatar.
“Mix it with my movements as the base template.”
At her command, the data cycles through.
Moments later, text materializes in the void.
『Some movements overlap』
“Replace it with the Drug Dealer’s motion.”
After a brief pause, ‘Complete’ appears.
Susan expanded the virtual space.
Her avatar and the masked man’s avatar stand facing each other.
“Begin.”
Whoosh!
Susan’s avatar rushes toward the Drug Dealer.
In that instant, the Drug Dealer sweeps his hand.
Swish….
Dust rises as he deflects her attack.
It’s not mere defense—no matter what angle she drives in from, the masked man blocks as if he’d predicted it.
Susan’s eyes widen at the Drug Dealer’s arm movement, whipping like a whip.
She pauses the simulation.
Surely not….
Her expression incredulous, she flicks her fingers.
Then.
A list of assassination videos uploaded to the dark web unfolds before her.
If this is real….
“This is absolutely impossible….”
She plays the footage.
Six months ago.
A video of bodyguards being slaughtered at a French estate.
At a certain point, Susan stops the footage and overlays the Drug Dealer’s movements with her own image from that video.
Gasp!
The movements align perfectly, as if they were one.
That distinctive technique of hers—the way she whips her wrist like a lash.
Within the family, only she wielded her arm this way.
‘Father told me to correct that habit….’
Sigh….
A breath escapes her.
Unbelievable as it is.
‘He learned the movements from my video.’
Yes, imitation is possible.
But.
Executing it in actual combat is an entirely different realm.
In other words.
“A… martial arts prodigy?”
That wasn’t my intention when I uploaded the video.
Unintentionally, I had cultivated a prodigy of assassination techniques.
After staring blankly for a while, I regained my composure.
I moved my fingertips to split the screen at multiple angles.
This time.
‘I need to find the sniper.’
Multiple videos played simultaneously, and I paused the moment the flash was about to burst.
I zoomed the screen to its absolute limit.
My brow furrowed.
But.
Even after meticulously scanning the area around the flash, nothing appeared.
Ridiculous!
How is this even possible?
How high is the transmittance that there’s not even light reflection?
Even glass couldn’t achieve this.
It didn’t make sense from the beginning—when the drone’s thermal sensor failed to detect the sniper.
Having gained nothing, I compressed the footage into a single package file.
And uploaded it to the dark web’s ‘Assassination Gallery’.
It was risky for a red-listed target to leave a record, but I didn’t care.
After all, anonymity was guaranteed in this shadowy world.
The videos I’d uploaded so far had become a means to elevate Vlad’s reputation.
Once the upload completed, I added a brief message through an anonymous account and embedded code to trace the IP.
『Scout Offer』
‘If they’re skilled enough to replicate my footage, they’ll definitely take this bait.’
A mischievous smile played at my lips.
.
.
.
I emerged from the zero-gravity capsule.
As I approached the window and deactivated the virtual Forest, the city’s nightscape unfolded before my eyes.
To be honest.
Rather than the Ghost of the Abyss.
‘I’m more drawn to the Copycat….’
Tsk—.
Still, I should find the Ghost of the Abyss first, shouldn’t I?
I didn’t come to South Korea for vacation.
* * *
The next morning, early.
Doo-ho returned home after training.
Why the sudden training, you ask?
After resting sufficiently in the Garage and stepping into my room, I realized less than a minute had passed.
With sleep eluding me and time stretching endlessly, I devoted myself to studying technical manuals.
Yet work remained hours away.
Eventually, I replayed yesterday’s combat in my mind and pushed myself through assassination technique training to hone my strength.
Though I had Isto and Hawkeye, I questioned whether it was truly necessary.
But if I ever needed to expose the Ghost’s identity…
“I have to become stronger.”
I couldn’t hide forever.
What if my identity were suddenly revealed?
I could be subdued without resistance.
So I resolved to rest thoroughly in the Garage going forward and extend my time in the outside world.
Not a choice, but preparation for survival.
In any case.
As I prepared for work after that long dawn, it happened.
The space rippled.
Isto emerged, clutching a worn laptop, space warping around him.
His LED eyes gleamed brighter than ever.
An inexplicable chill ran down my spine.
“What’s… with you?”
-You’ve become a star overnight, sir!
“…?”
Isto couldn’t contain his excitement as he thrust the laptop before me.
I narrowed my eyes at the screen.
What the—
“You keep sneaking into the dark web…”
My words trailed off as I stared blankly at the display.
『Vlad vs Copycat
Uploaded: 4 hours ago
Views: 247,892
Comments: +999』
Huh?
Vlad?
“C-Copycat?”
An ominous feeling washed over me.
Isto hit play.
Against an alley backdrop, footage showed me locked in fierce combat with someone wearing a cat mask.
Screech! Thud! Bang!
Sharp metallic clangs and breathless impacts tore through the speakers.
My jaw trembled.
“W-What on earth is this…?”
My heart sank.
The masked man on the screen was Doo-ho himself.
-This is Doo-ho’s spectacular debut video! Hehehehe.
Damn it!
Spectacular, my ass!
“Isto, did you film this?”
-No! Vlad launched a drone, didn’t she? Looks like it was recorded back then.
Wait, wait.
If that’s the case….
‘Is the Vlad footage all that’s on the dark web?’
-She must have uploaded it herself.
Oh, my head….
Is that woman out of her mind?
What kind of assassin does something like this!
As Doo-ho clutched his head, Isto spoke brightly.
-Your reputation is spreading far and wide in the world of darkness. Isn’t that something to be grateful for?
“I’m supposed to be grateful for this? Is that how it works?”
-Yes.
Good grief….
As Doo-ho lost for words and rubbed his temples, Isto’s LED eyes curved wickedly, as if delighted.
His reputation had skyrocketed, she seemed to say.
Doo-ho exhaled sharply and examined the video again. On the surface, it looked like an evenly matched fight, but he knew better.
‘Vlad clearly went easy on me.’
-It can’t be seen that way alone.
“…What?”
Isto’s LED eyes gleamed.
-Isn’t this your first real combat against the world’s greatest assassin? Moreover, Vlad was the one who got wounded.
“That was just luck triggering my ability?”
-No! You countered in a crisis situation and inflicted a wound—you should take pride in that!
They say praise makes even whales dance.
At Isto’s persuasive words, Doo-ho’s shoulders rose without his realizing it.
‘Now that I think about it… wasn’t there a moment when I wasn’t afraid of dying?’
-Exactly! Confidence! Swagger! Doesn’t your chest swell with grandeur!
“???”
Something felt off, but!
With his confidence rising, Doo-ho naturally grew curious about the comments below the video.
A glance.
His eyes drifted toward the comment section.
Just by looking at the video, you can see Blood Sue playing with it. lol
┕Did you miss Copycat’s movement? Half a beat faster than Vlad.
I tried mimicking it too, but I can’t do it like that.
Is it AI manipulation?
I scraped the video and ran it through a verification tool—it’s real.
Vlad’s technique has been modified too. This is the realm of genius.
Hmm.
It’s strange that assassins acknowledged it.
Somehow….
‘Why do I feel oddly pleased?’
Someone even called me a genius.
Doo-ho paused mid-scroll.
The location in the video is Yeouido Zone 3.
If I run the copycat outfit through a search engine, something might come up.
I narrowed it down to ten similar clothing retailers.
Doo-ho fell into thought.
The outfit?
Oh no.
Startled, Doo-ho hurried to the washing machine.
Fortunately, the hoodie I wore yesterday was still in the laundry basket.
I quickly grabbed the clothes and returned to my room.
“Isto, is this outfit okay?”
Isto examined the hoodie.
-No brand tag, common design. Don’t worry. Everyone’s just talking big.
Only then did Doo-ho let out a relieved sigh.
It was fortunate, but still….
‘I really need to be careful from now on.’
Sigh.
“Why would Vlad show up there anyway.”
Doo-ho placed the outfit inside the Garage.
Just in case.
“Isto.”
-Yes!
As Doo-ho handed over his ID, question marks flashed across Isto’s LED eyes.
“Find everything I’ve signed up for and change my personal information to opt-out.”
-Some services charge fees for opting out.
“Pay them. I don’t care.”
-May I ask why?
Doo-ho tapped the laptop screen with his finger.
“The assassin gallery, right? For contingencies, I think that would be better.”
-Understood. Should I erase all traces of you?
“I’d appreciate that.”
With those words, Doo-ho picked up his bag.
-By the way, Vlad sent a scout offer. What should we say?
Ugh!
“Why are you even worried about that!”
-I’m just asking how much the scout fee is….
“Indifference is the answer. Okay?”
Contrary to Doo-ho’s expectations, the dark web’s “Assassination Gallery” was already heating up intensely.
Assassins had begun to obsess over the mysterious entity known as “Copycat.”
Meanwhile, in a hotel suite in Yeouido District 2.
Susan sat on the sofa, taking a sip of her morning coffee while gazing at her smart glasses.
Comments pouring in in real time.
She watched the IP addresses and location data streaming in real time, smirking to herself.
Copycat.
‘If he just replies once, I’ll have him pinned down immediately.’
Became a Mechromancer
Author |
Keongang E
Publication Date |
February 25, 2026
Publisher |
TalesYX
Website |
https://talesyx.com
Email |
[email protected]
ⓒ Keongang E, 2026
This publication is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission.
UCI |
G720:N+A277-20260210015.0021

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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