Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 404

Custom Order (1)

Achilles Technology Strategy Team Leader, Graham Campbell.

A Saint-level impact mage who reached level 7, and at the same time, a skilled individual who fearlessly modified his body with the company’s technology for combat.

I don’t know what kind of life he lived to get here, but it was clear that he was a person with abilities that matched his power and position.

The decision to boldly put a level 7 language mage, one of the biggest forces brought to face Lenok today, at the forefront.

Even his attitude of focusing on the construction and verification of the system, while consuming himself and all other combatants entirely.

Regardless of whether that method was efficient and correct, it was clear that his determination and bold judgment were deeply ingrained in the inner self of the human being named Graham.

Lenok closed his eyes and tried to empathize with Graham as much as possible, but…

“…I still don’t really empathize. If it were me, I would have planned a much more cautious or extremely aggressive operation.”

[Master, I’m telling you, that kind of process itself isn’t really necessary.]

“It’s a process of converting a person’s entire memory into a digital brain and accessing the database. I think it’s necessary to try it, even to control the backlash after the connection is complete.”

The final moment of the battle with Graham Campbell.

Lenok partially deployed Davi’s digital brain domain with the power of the system, then miniaturized the system itself and slammed it directly into Graham’s head.

It wouldn’t be strange if his head had completely fried from the excessive amount of information, but surprisingly, Graham was just lying there with a blank expression, maintaining a healthy complexion.

With Davi’s transcendent calculation ability, he scanned Graham’s cerebral cortex entirely, adjusted the amount of information allowed, and miniaturized the system.

He then temporarily installed Achilles’ system inside his thought circuits instead of human consciousness.

An absurd and unrealistic idea, both physically and magically.

However, in this dream-like state where reality and the digital brain domain slightly overlap, it’s not entirely impossible.

Even though it’s a partially deployed domain, it’s a gap between reality and the virtual that is clearly manifested by fully assuming the possibility of a digital brain spirit.

Within that, even the unconventional act of crossing between life and the digital brain domain and interfering with data from another dimension becomes somewhat possible under certain conditions.

[Access point 232 search complete. Data packet replacement in progress. Starting intrusion into Achilles headquarters security network.]

Thump!!

The appearance of a huge three-tailed fox with its large front paw on Graham’s forehead.

Along with Davi’s words, Graham’s upper body, who had been lying blankly and staring at the rainy sky, heaved greatly.

At the same time, thousands of extremely complex programming languages flashed rapidly across his retinas.

[Access authorization complete. Biometric authentication: Graham Campbell. Confirmed as a headquarters executive. Opening headquarters database.]

“Gack…!!”

Graham’s face, foaming at the mouth and convulsing.

Lenok carefully watched his expression and raised a shield above his head to block the pouring rain.

“We need to finish before his basic life functions completely stop. Do you understand?”

[Of course.]

Davi, who tapped Lenok’s head with his three lush tails, replied with a confident voice.

[It’s my first time connecting an organic body to a network as a terminal, but the simulations are all done. At this speed, we can finish everything before Achilles’ upper management finds out.]

The reason why Lenok was making such an effort to extract information, instead of just killing Graham Campbell.

It was to make Graham himself a living terminal and directly access Achilles’ powerful security network.

As a company that claims to be a security firm, Achilles’ network firewall was at a level that even Davi couldn’t break through head-on.

That’s why Lenok was planning to infiltrate the network and extract information by making Graham, one of Achilles’ executives, a terminal using his biometric information.

The process was a bit different due to the existence of the magic defense system, but in any case, it had safely landed on the original intended purpose.

[Final approval complete. Search code: Madrich Onion. Starting to secure network access terminal coordinates!]

“Hekehek…!!”

Downloading and extracting all the information inside the security network would take a long time and be impossible to do here right now.

However, throwing a search code into the network and identifying the location of the terminal that responds to it is something that Graham’s authority can do quickly.

The fact that something inside Achilles responds to the code Madrich Onion is the same as extracting a list of those deeply involved in this matter.

Davi, with his ears perked up, quickly reverse-tracked the coordinates of the terminal inside the network and began transmitting them to Lenok’s phone.

Beep beep beep!!!

Lenok, who was checking the terminal information that was popping up on his phone’s text message screen without missing a single one, suddenly frowned.

“This is…”

[Network firewall reversal detected, coordinate reverse tracking is coming in…!! Disconnecting. 3, 2, 1…!!]

Thud!!

Right after Davi counted down and removed his front paw from Graham’s forehead, Graham, who had been foaming at the mouth and convulsing, rolled his eyes back and fainted.

Lenok bound his body with magic threads to subdue him, then took out his phone.

“Panoa, are you still watching?”

[…Confirmed.]

She also seemed a bit bewildered, as if she didn’t quite understand the situation.

[It seems like the battle ended a while ago, can we start the cleanup now…?]

“I have some personal information to extract. It’s all done, so you don’t have to worry.”

Lenok put his phone in his coat pocket and chuckled.

“If things go well, we might be able to pull out some city officials involved in this matter.”

[I, I see… If there’s anything I can help with, please let me know anytime.]

“I’m planning to entrust the interrogation to the cartel for now. I’d like to ask you to handle that part, is that okay?”

[No problem. If we secure material evidence that Achilles was involved, we still have enough power to fight within the city council using that as evidence.]

Panoa’s voice suddenly turned cold.

[You’ve worked really hard today. The compensation after everything is over will be generous.]

“…Don’t rush the process. I want to secure a list of people who were directly involved in the Black Consumer Project within the city council through this incident. I hope that process doesn’t go too far astray.”

[Of course.]

Lenok hung up the phone and sighed as he raised his head.

No sooner had he contacted Panoa than the sound of sirens began to blare from all over the street, and police cars and fire trucks were rushing in.

This incident would be disguised as a collapse of Dyke’s branch due to a construction error, and under the pretext of rescuing those involved, they would naturally be dragged into the cartel’s basement.

Now that they had secured material evidence that these people were related to Achilles and the city government, there was nothing left for Lenok to do right away.

He just needed to disappear from this street naturally.

Lenok came to that conclusion and immediately moved his steps into the dark streets.

As the mage’s figure slowly faded into the alleyways, the red and blue lights of the sirens began to become clear amidst the dust.

* * *

“Failed?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s not a failure… It seems they were prepared as well.”

“…”

“We succeeded in collapsing Dyke’s Branch 1 as planned, but we can’t reach any of the personnel involved. It seems they were all incapacitated during the engagement with the 견뢰 [Gyeonroe, a term likely referring to a specific type of powerful individual or force].”

“Call the president.”

“What are you planning to do…?”

“Pick someone to take the blame and send them in. I’ll contact the judge myself.”

With Madrich Onion’s connections, who had been the head of the judicial system for over decades, it wouldn’t be difficult to pin a suitable charge on someone and smooth things over.

The voice was not Madrich himself, but one of the city council members who was taking care of him, but even with just that, there were endless things he could do.

“You can’t even handle one thing properly, making things difficult for us-”

Thud!!

At that moment, the dark room was brightly lit, and someone walked in.

A man with a thick build, whose figure was revealed from below, yelled at the sudden lighting.

“Who the hell is it!! I’ve told you repeatedly not to turn on the lights without permission…!!”

“Councilor Giuseppe. Is this the first time we’ve actually met face to face?”

The thick voice suddenly stopped at the low voice of an old man that was heard out of nowhere.

Giuseppe, with an unpleasant expression, turned his head, and what he saw was an elderly man.

On his left shoulder was the emblem of the Board of Audit, which was given to only five members of the city council’s lower house.

Only then did Giuseppe realize who the other person was, and his expression twisted greatly.

“John Mayer…”

“The rumor that you’ve been holed up in a dark room all day, engrossed in strange things, was true.”

The old man, Mayer, looked down at Giuseppe’s face and asked with a greedy smile.

“I believe you’re still quite young, how about going outside and getting some exercise? Or is there perhaps a reason why you can’t go outside?”

Mayer’s lips stretched into a long grin.

“I hope the rumor that you’ve sucked the blood of a vampire and gained some mediocre youth is not true.”

“…”

Giuseppe swallowed hard, put down the phone he was holding, and forced a smile.

“…Councilor Mayer, it’s not strange that I still look young to you, but I’m also getting old. I’m running out of energy to attend the Central Council every day.”

“Is that so?”

“So, I hope you refrain from such terrible rumors about vampires and sucking blood… It’s just disgusting to even hear about it.”

Giuseppe waved his hand and asked.

“So, what brings the rising star of the lower house, who stopped the defense force’s rebellion, to my mansion? Did you come to show off the hat of the Board of Audit?”

Mayer listened to Giuseppe’s words, but he didn’t seem to care as he scanned the room where he was.

A messy room filled with all sorts of greasy snacks and strong liquor. But nowhere in the vast room could he see a window for ventilation.

And in between Giuseppe’s drunken face, his faint eyes were shaking. Mayer, who read a reddish energy in them, grinned.

“No. I’m just here to do my job. I’ve personally obtained information that could harm the safety of the city.”

“…What?”

“Do you happen to know anything about the recent terrorist attacks on Dyke Corporation?”

* * *

Lenok was holding his phone and listening to the voice coming from the other end.

[It was much easier than I thought. He’s a clumsy guy who doesn’t even know how far he has to lie.]

“Is that so?”

[If I shake him a little more, he’ll fall on his own and spill some good information.]

Mayer laughed heartily and said with a satisfied expression.

[I never thought I’d be able to arrest a fellow council member as soon as I got the Board of Audit’s badge. I guess this is all thanks to you.]

“Although it’s related to the Black Consumer Project, I didn’t expect you to step forward so readily.”

Lenok, who was watching the street scene through the window, replied.

“Considering who’s behind it, it’s unlikely to be something that would benefit you, Councilor.”

It wasn’t an empty statement.

Mayer, who had officially succeeded to the councilor position, couldn’t possibly not know how much influence Madrich Onion had in the city government’s high ranks.

Even though he had stepped down from his position, he could exert a strong influence on the city council through various connections. Despite the fact that he was essentially turning his back on Madrich, Mayer readily accepted Lenok’s call and directly raided the city councilor.

As a result, he captured the circumstances that Councilor Giuseppe was in close contact with Achilles.

With the authority of the Board of Audit, he temporarily suspended all the powers of Lower House Councilor Giuseppe Collini and placed him under house arrest.

Even Lenok was slightly impressed by Mayer’s decisiveness in handling all of this in just 48 hours.

However, Mayer, after hearing Lenok’s words, burst into a hearty laugh instead.

-Hahaha! That’s just because you don’t know the ways of this world.

“What do you mean?”

-What I mean is that it’s not that important for me to be at odds with the former Chief Justice and get on his bad side.

Mayer, who laughed with a meaningful voice, continued.

-What’s important is that by taking charge of this matter, the attention of both the city council and the public will be focused on me.

“…”

-It doesn’t matter what the newspaper headlines say. The rebellion of an old rookie councilor, the unruly behavior of the Board of Audit, the chaos in the city council that doesn’t respect former officials… As long as my name is firmly engraved in the minds of the Balkan citizens.

“I see.”

-It’s enough just to have the image of a councilor who is directly involved in the work, regardless of the success or failure of the matter. This city has been slowly rotting for too long, and now it has reached the point where it’s losing its self-sustaining power.

Mayer said that and laughed with a confident voice.

-No matter what happens in the future, they will know that it will be difficult to easily dismiss a councilor who takes this stance. The old Chief Justice knows that there are no enemies or allies in the council.

Even if he was at odds with Madrich right now, he was confident that he could change his attitude depending on their mutual interests.

Lenok, who understood what Mayer was saying, nodded.

“You want to become a heavyweight that’s hard to push out of the game.”

-I knew you’d understand right away. The more I’m seen as someone who makes big things happen, the harder it will be for the other councilors to push me out.

The greedy old man’s laughter echoed from the other side of the phone.

-Even the elders who oversee everything from the top of this city.

“…”

I had heard rumors about it.

The Central Council, which holds all the administrative power of the megacity.

The Elders, where only a very small number of powerful people can sit among the senators at the top.

The fact that Mayer directly mentioned the absurd rumor that all the acts of electing and appointing the city’s mayor are done at the fingertips of the Elders,

It was no different from saying that it wasn’t just an absurd rumor.

-By then, wouldn’t we be able to hear directly from those people what happened during the project? Aside from helping you, I have my own way. And I believe this path is not wrong.

“I understand.”

Even at the end of his old age, where does that sharp judgment and endless greed come from?

I still don’t think Mayer is a good person, or someone who will always be helpful.

But it was certain that every time Lenok talked to Mayer like this, he looked back at himself in a different way.

-I’m sorry, but I can’t talk for long. Even while I’m talking to you, my other phone is ringing off the hook.

“I understand. I’ll contact you again soon.”

-Because I wielded the authority of the Board of Audit so fiercely, the Senate must be having a headache. It will take some time to clean this up, and the city council’s internal information network will be somewhat paralyzed.

Mayer laughed.

-You know what I mean, right?

It would take some time for the current situation to be properly conveyed to Madrich.

If they could find where he was hiding and turn the tables before that, it would be enough.

Mayer was openly telling Lenok that fact.

Lenok, who hung up the phone, rummaged through his pocket for a cigarette and let out a satisfied sigh.

‘Whether I should call it luck…’

Among the terminals that were tracked down using Graham Campbell’s access rights, there was a member of the city council’s lower house.

And the fact that John Mayer, who heard the story, readily extended a helping hand was hard to think of as a simple coincidence.

The connection that started with a referral from a pharmaceutical company had continued to this point, and I never thought it would be helpful in this way.

Especially at this point, where information within the city council was relatively lacking, Mayer’s existence was helping Lenok in many ways.

While deeply realizing that fact, Lenok’s expression was not very good.

‘He’s definitely not a naive person. Someday, he’ll try to get something in return for his favor.’

They were only cooperating and wishing each other well because their goals of uncovering the project aligned, but he knew that their methods could change at any time.

Even if he was a great help right now, he always had to be aware of the fact that he could become worse than an enemy someday.

As Lenok thought that and tried to light the cigarette in his mouth and flick the fire with his finger,

“Um… Smoking is prohibited inside the building.”

A very polite voice was heard right next to him.

“…”

Lenok also put the cigarette away naturally with an embarrassed look and scratched his cheek.

“Sorry. I was just thinking about something…”

“It’s okay, Mr. Ban. There’s a smoking area on the rooftop, and if you’re okay with it, I’ll guide you there.”

The employee, who turned around with a smiling face, continued.

“It seems like it will take some time for the options you added to the bike to be completed.”

Behind him was a strange sight of all sorts of steel plates and machine parts floating in the air and assembling themselves with magnetic force.

The monster bike that Lenok had custom-ordered through Sebastian’s connections at Otterble.

Lenok had arrived at the scene to get a new bike after the one he had was destroyed in the Hanghasa Labyrinth.

“I believe Mr. Sebastian and the president are also there.”

“…Okay. Let’s go up.”

When he took the elevator to the rooftop, he could see two people sitting facing each other in the smoking area inside a huge glass booth.

The figure of a middle-aged man with a somewhat relaxed impression and Sebastian.

Sebastian, who noticed Lenok coming, immediately waved his hand, and the middle-aged man jumped up from his seat.

“Ban, over here. You’re a bit later than I thought?”

“I was watching the bike’s options being adjusted. I was going to pick it up when it was finished, but it’s taking a while.”

“The options you ordered are quite complicated. The president here says that there are many technologies that he’s introducing for the first time, so it will take longer to combine them.”

Sebastian said that and pointed to the middle-aged man who was standing and waiting for Lenok.

“This is Victor Essien, the president and founder of Otterble. He’s an old friend of mine. Say hello.”

“I’ve really wanted to meet you.”

Victor, who grabbed Lenok’s hand and bowed his head, looked up at Lenok with sparkling eyes.

“I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us, Mr. Ban, but it’s hard to remember your face properly because I don’t have a picture of you. I’m so honored to finally meet you.”

“…Have I ever received a request from Otterble?”

Lenok himself was a bit embarrassed by the enthusiastic welcome. The answer came from Sebastian.

“Ever since you, Mr. Ban, started riding Otterble’s custom-made bike, inquiries about similar products have greatly increased.”

“…”

“Sales in the bike production line have more than doubled. We’ve benefited quite a bit from you using the bike so much, Mr. Ban.”

“Haha…”

Only then did Lenok realize why the president of Otterble was giving such an enthusiastic welcome and let out a bitter smile.

Every time he acted as Ban, he would take out his bike and ride it whenever he had the chance, so it was natural that the bike’s existence would attract attention as much as Ban himself.

Naturally, the sales of Otterble, which was known to have produced the bike, were also increasing.

“It seems I’ve been attracting attention and promoting it unintentionally. I should be getting advertising fees instead of paying for it.”

Victor bowed his head with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“Of course, I don’t intend to end it with just empty words. In that sense, I have a new proposal for the bike we’re making for you, Mr. Ban. How about it?”

“Hmm?”

“You told us to focus on the bike’s combat power and mobility.”

Victor said with a strange expression that couldn’t hide his smile.

“I think we can make something quite interesting.”