Chapter 19: Dance under the lights (5)

After entering the outskirts of Iron Bay, the car stopped in front of a motel.

It was the middle of the night, with the moon high in the sky.

The acrid air hung in the atmosphere, a testament to the amount of smoke billowing from the factories behind the motel district.

It felt like his lungs were being damaged even without deliberately smoking.

So, thinking it would be doubly bad if he smoked now, Lee Do put a cigarette to his lips.

While he was lighting it, she entered the building and asked at the front desk.

“What about the room?”

Exhaling smoke, Lee Do replied.

“Separate.”

“Really?”

“Or one room, whatever.”

“I’ll take it. One room.”

“Why did you ask, by any chance?”

It felt like she had asked out of courtesy.

It wasn’t exactly a twin-bed room, but he didn’t have the energy to dwell on such trivial matters.

After receiving the key to room 605, Lee Do threw off his shirt as soon as he entered the old, shabby room.

Minor wounds healed easily, but scars did not, and there were indeed marks all over his body that he wouldn’t want others to see.

Vivian stopped in her tracks.

“…What?”

Her face was bewildered.

Lee Do inhaled smoke and, without a word, went to a corner and assumed a stance.

It wasn’t that, but rather to prevent sweat from drenching his clothes.

Nevertheless, she stood blankly at the door, seemingly unable to enter the room.

“Do what you need to do.”

Only then did she hesitantly come in.

“…Well, I thought I had to strip too.”

It was a joke.

Averting his gaze from Vivian, who sat on the sofa and turned on her Cyberdeck, Lee Do pulled back the curtain and opened the window.

Then he extended his palm into the empty air.

It was the First Form.

There was no reason not to practice when a decisive battle could occur at any time, anywhere.

Fortunately, having practiced day and night yesterday, he had a decent grasp of it.

For example, he could refine the Qi flowing between his knuckles.

[TL Note: Knuckles refer to the joints of the fingers, especially where they connect to the hand. In martial arts or Qi-related stories, refining Qi around the knuckles often implies focusing energy into punches or close-combat strikes.]

Being able to refine Qi meant that less Qi was wasted.

It was still imperfect, but it wasn’t completely distorted like when he first used it.

As he exhaled smoke, it billowed out the window.

He changed his extended palm into a fist.

Thump-!

It was the moment his fingers closed.

Qi burst out in the direction his fist pushed.

Vivian glanced over at the sound, but Lee Do extended his palm again.

Thump!

Using it twice in a row consumed two-tenths of his total Qi.

‘I can use it about 7 times in a real fight, then.’

Originally, he couldn’t even use it 4 times, so he had reduced the consumption by nearly half.

He decided to refine it further.

Taking a drag from his cigarette, Lee Do very slowly felt the process of Qi circulation.

From the point where the smoke entered his throat, to where the Qi flowed to his right arm and reached its end.

Qi was contained in each finger.

And his wrist, his palm.

He closed his eyes.

What had once flowed broadly through wide meridians was now as thin as a thread.

But it was clear that this wouldn’t be powerful enough.

He gradually thickened the thread-like Qi.

Slightly thinner and finer than before, when it was thick.

To reduce the amount of Qi used, even by a little.

He opened his eyes.

Lee Do changed his extended palm into a fist.

He pushed, and thump-!

There was no such hollow sound.

“…”

Exhaling smoke, Lee Do focused the Qi in his body, which was concentrated in his right arm.

‘Did I reduce it too much?’

Activation was sufficient, but manipulating it finely was a different skill.

‘I have no choice but to keep trying until I get the hang of it.’

He walked to get a towel to wipe the sweat that had formed on his neck.

Sitting on the bed, he met Vivian’s gaze, who had been subtly watching him.

Curious, Lee Do spoke first.

“…Did you find anything?”

“No… Not really.”

She lowered her gaze to her Cyberdeck.

“What. Why don’t you think about what to do tomorrow.”

“…I should.”

Lee Do got up from the bed.

He flicked the finished cigarette out the window and took out a new one.

He idly stretched the towel around his neck, pulled it tight, and extended his arm.

Then, as if a thought suddenly occurred to him, Lee Do said to Vivian.

“You, use the bed.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll use that, so you sleep on the bed.”

“…It doesn’t matter. You can sleep on the bed.”

“You drove.”

He wasn’t exactly trying to do Qi cultivation.

It couldn’t replace sleep, but it did restore a good deal of energy, and he didn’t know what kind of unexpected situation might arise.

After all, he was both chasing the scent of Red Stream and being chased by them.

“…Well, then.”

Vivian hesitated before carefully getting off the sofa.

Lee Do threw the towel he had stretched out onto the sofa and sent Qi flowing into his right arm again.

Since more than 70% of his internal energy was recovered through sleep, he could examine it a few more times.

Much more slowly, at that.

And with precision.

The night deepened.

At some point, the sight of Vivian lying on the bed flickered at the edge of his vision.

“…Snore.”

He heard a somewhat childish snore and looked, but she seemed to be sound asleep, probably very tired, just lying there.

Lee Do clenched and unclenched his palm.

So he decided to stop as well and lie down on the sofa.

His right arm already ached as if pushed to its limit.

He lay down on the sofa.

Soon, he closed his eyes.

***

Iron Bay had many unidentified individuals, but it also had many laborers and workers.

It was the complete opposite of Sector 11-A, which was teeming with gangs yet also had a considerable number of corporate people.

Vivian parked the car on the access road behind the port, a place filled with the sounds of construction and a faint, fishy smell that pricked the nostrils.

Unlike the pitch-black river they had seen last night, the sea faintly visible in the distance was blue.

It seemed to be mixed with an ambiguous shade of jade.

Vivian rested her arm on the slightly open window frame.

She tapped the steering wheel with her fingers and said.

“This is the information the executive gave. They spread rumors about themselves in Iron Bay, and these guys took the bait. Said they’d buy the data.”

Lee Do was flicking cigarette ash out the window.

“Here?”

“Yeah. So we were the ones who had to disguise ourselves as information sellers. Not anymore, though.”

“Doesn’t that just mean we have to lie low and wait?”

“That’s right. Though your body will probably ache a lot.”

Originally, their role was to hand over data related to Red Stream.

From there, Lee Do had a question.

If they had decided not to do it, would they have sent another hound?

That fluid and extensive range of action might have been Red Stream’s chosen method of reconstruction.

The NIM related to Core Works, a mere dealer’s money source.

And here, Iron Bay.

It was a point where it was impossible to gauge how many f*cking !diots were trying to latch onto Red Stream.

Anyway, Lee Do put the cigarette back in his mouth.

He exhaled smoke, and it was between the hazy fumes that billowed up and disappeared.

The sun set quickly.

It was around the time he had idly skimmed through his manuals and burned through 17 more cigarettes.

Vivian, who had at some point pulled her seat back and stretched her legs out beside the steering wheel, glanced at Lee Do.

“Did you see that car just now?”

She lowered her legs and the hands she had clasped behind her head.

“The black van?”

“Yeah. Them. Looked like smart armor.”

A car had passed in front of Vivian’s car.

Only cargo trucks and lorries frequented the access road, and even those were scarce at this hour.

It was the first car to enter after the moon had risen.

Another suspicious point was that it was armored.

Lee Do got out of the car.

“Be careful.”

As she took the D-tap he had given her, just in case.

“Okay.”

The black van was slowly heading towards a specific location among the colorful container yards.

So Lee Do also moved slowly at first.

He flicked away the cigarette he was smoking, put a new one to his lips, and stared intently at their path.

Under the moonlight, it was like a figure heading towards a den of monsters.

This place was pitch black without a single light, and due to the chill of the sea breeze, it was a space where ghosts might even appear.

The port.

What kind of information had Red Stream leaked that made them enter such a suspicious place so readily?

However, one mistake was that people were scarier than ghosts.

It was none other than the members of that corporation who had set foot in this eerie place.

They were people whose lives depended on profit and loss.

Lee Do approached the spot where they had parked the car between the container yards.

Two people in suits were getting out.

One man, one woman.

And at the sound of footsteps coming from behind, they turned around.

“…Red Stream?”

They asked first.

Lee Do exhaled smoke and nodded.

“Information…”

And the man drew a gun.

Lee Do tilted his head back.

Trrrrk-!

Bullets grazed his earlobe and pierced through countless trajectories.

A submachine gun.

Lee Do, who had instinctively crouched, pushed off with his toes and sprang towards the van.

The clack, clack of the submachine gun’s module automatically reloading could be heard.

Followed by the thud, thud, thud of falling shell casings.

‘F*ck. There’s a reason people are scary.’

And then the woman jumped onto the van.

Her eyes glowed blue like a hologram, as if searching for a form in the darkness.

“…”

Their eyes met.

She instantly drew a sword from the scabbard on her back.

A katana.

[TL Note: Katana — a traditional Japanese sword with a curved, single-edged blade, typically associated with samurai. It’s known for its sharpness, precision, and speed. In sci-fi or cyberpunk settings, a glowing katana often hints at high-tech modifications, like energy blades or enhanced materials.]

Like her eyes, the blade also glowed blue.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a monomolecular cutter.

The moment he thought that, the woman landed in front of Lee Do.

She slashed forward.

Skung!

Lee Do immediately pulled back his foot and leaned back, drawing his staff.

As he swung it down from above, the katana also flew towards him, as if to meet it head-on.

Lee Do instantly twirled the staff that was heading downwards.

As he lessened the force, the katana that had rammed into it also spun.

It was the flat of the blade, not the edge.

Its tip was slightly damaged, but it was akin to sacrificing flesh to take bone.

He deflected it.

The blade slid upwards as if deflected.

“……?!”

While the woman was surprised, Lee Do kicked towards her side.

“…Keuk!”

While she stumbled, he punched her in the jaw.

She was dazed, but she quickly regained her posture.

Readjusting her staff and the pushed-back katana, the woman swung diagonally again.

It came crashing down.

Kkudeudeuk-!

When he blocked with his staff, the blade lodged in it.

The staff and katana were fixed as if immobile, so Lee Do pushed the staff he held with both hands forward.

Behind her was the van.

The sound of the woman hitting the car body echoed.

“Ha, keuuk!”

Just as he placed his hand on the woman’s stomach, from the side.

The sight of the man aiming his gun and walking steadily towards him.

Lee Do hurriedly opened the car door.

Ting-!

The sound of a single bullet hitting the car door.

It ricocheted, and then a barrage of such sounds hit his ears.

[TL Note: Ricocheted — when a bullet (or any projectile) hits a surface and bounces off instead of penetrating it. Often used in action scenes to describe bullets deflecting off walls, metal, or in this case, a car door.]

Ting, tingtingtingtingting-!!

The roar of the submachine gun unleashing all its firepower on a mere car door.

“…”

He could even see the shell casings falling roughly underneath.

Next was the clack, clack of reloading, and Lee Do seized the opportunity to immediately grab the woman’s hair.

Thump! against the car body.

He slammed her.

He brought her over again, this time slamming her against the car door, and the woman’s body trembled violently.

As she let out a groan, she grabbed Lee Do’s arm.

It was a moment of desperately trying to entangle him.

Shaking off her arm, Lee Do kneed her in the side.

“Keuk! Heuk!”

As she crouched, he brought his elbow down on her back as if to break it.

“…Euk!”

Despite the woman’s surprisingly resilient body, Lee Do quickly changed his mind.

She was still trying to entangle his arm.

Suddenly, he placed his palm on her side.

‘First Form.’

The air compressed.

His fist shot out.

Tukung!

“…Keo, keoheok! Keok!”

He grabbed her hair again and threw her backwards. She collapsed, clutching her side and groaning.

Blood flowed from her mouth and nose.

Her body trembled uncontrollably as if convulsing.

But, her hand trembling, she was trying to grip her sword again.

Strangely.

More importantly, the man.

The moment Lee Do turned his head, he took out a D-tap from his pocket and threw it.

He tilted his head to avoid it, but it was enough to draw his attention.

He grabbed the car door.

Closing it, he kicked off the ground.

With the added acceleration, he closed the distance in an instant.

As he brought his staff down, the man instinctively raised his arm, his sunglasses-clad face contorting.

Ppeok!

With a sound that was painful just to hear, Lee Do dropped the staff he had brought down.

He grabbed the man’s collar with both hands.

He jumped.

He mounted him.

The gun naturally fell from the man’s hand.

He spat his cigarette onto the man’s lowered face, then kicked out behind him.

It was the woman who had somehow gotten up and lunged.

She stopped with a gasp.

Her abdomen had already been caught by his foot.

Even the katana she had re-gripped clattered to the ground with a loud metallic clang.

Lee Do was about to punch the man in the face, but he just exhaled, gave up, and stood up from there.

“…”

Even with the sunglasses, the shadows on his face already told the answer.

A limp body, just barely breathing.

As if having given up due to the difference in skill, the man just lay there on the ground.

Picking up his staff, Lee Do took out a cigarette pack from his pocket and put a new cigarette to his lips.

As he looked down at them silently, the man spoke first.

“Red Stream…”

Hooo, he exhaled.

“Red Stream. You will never escape our pursuit. You sons of b*tches…”

Lee Do scratched his chin at the sudden cursing.

Putting the cigarette to his lips and looking down silently, pondering his intentions, Lee Do soon exhaled smoke and replied.

“I’m not Red Stream.”

“…What?”

The eyes behind the sunglasses fixed sharply on Lee Do.

He understood why the submachine gun had fired first.

The reason for the attack.

These b@stards seemed to have known in advance that Red Stream’s dogs were coming.

As expected, people were the scariest.

Lee Do, inhaling his cigarette, soon sat down in front of the man.

“Actually, I came to make friends. With you guys.”

Tuk, ash fell beside the man.

“We’re trying to eliminate them too, those b@stards.”

Acting on profit and loss is the most fundamental motto of a corporation.

In the first place, he had no intention of using the D-tap.

In the midst of infinite selfishness, wasn’t the price of a life the greatest privilege of a deal?

“Red Stream.”

At Lee Do’s short remark, the man in sunglasses let out a dry laugh.

It was hard to tell if it was a laugh of relief at getting his life back, or for some other reason, like disbelief.

Only one thing was certain: who had gained the upper hand over whom.