Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 1: Death

The sky was smothered in thick, acrid smoke.

Sunlight barely managed to pierce through the gaps, casting dim light over the gray cityscape.

I adjusted my mask tightly before stepping onto the street.

Without a mask, it was impossible to walk outside for more than five minutes.

"Haaah."

I let out a deep breath through the filter.

This was no longer the Seoul I remembered from my childhood.

Between the towering skyscrapers and futuristic architecture, the old alleyways remained, now filled with people sprawled out like lifeless bodies.

Most of them wore virtual reality headsets, completely disconnected from reality.

Maybe, to them, the virtual world was a far better place to exist than this one.

"I really need to find a new place to live..."

Grumbling under my breath, I carefully weaved through the bodies.

On the side of the alley, an electronics store was secured behind metal bars, its latest holographic TV beaming brilliant colors onto the cracked pavement.

A corporate news broadcast played on the screen in crystal-clear resolution.

[MK Corporation has unveiled its latest virtual reality device. This model boasts speeds ten times faster than its predecessors...]

The anchor’s face was eerily flawless—so lifelike it could pass for a real human. But it wasn’t.

It was an AI-generated persona.

All of this had begun when a certain Korean corporation developed something that changed the world forever.

An AI that constantly improved itself—transcending its original programming.

People had predicted this moment for decades, yet no one could have foreseen the sheer speed at which it would reshape the world.

I stood still for a moment, staring at the screen.

The company responsible for this revolution?

MK Corporation.

The same company I worked for.

Even now, it felt surreal.

How did we manage to develop such an AI before any of the global tech giants?

And how was it my employer—the company I had once thought of as just another tech firm—leading the charge?

The more time passed, the harder it was to wrap my head around.

Stepping out of the alley, I emerged onto the main boulevard.

The pedestrian pathways were immaculate—spotless, not a single piece of trash in sight.

Autonomous drones buzzed through the sky.

People flaunted their cybernetic limbs, enhanced with the latest augmentations, their augmented reality interfaces glowing faintly over their eyes.

...

Humanity had reached a point where anyone could modify their body however they pleased.

Like swapping out mechanical parts, people replaced their hands, feet, and even internal organs.

Enhanced muscles. Sharpened vision. More efficient lungs and hearts.

If you had enough money, anything was possible.

It had only been two years since the first AI emerged, and already, the world had become this.

And the pace was only accelerating.

Every morning, a flood of new technology would upend society yet again.

Korea was advancing at an unprecedented speed, yet strangely, life felt harder than ever before.

The smog-choked air. The people lost in virtual reality.

It all felt like a dystopian future ripped straight from a cyberpunk novel.

And it was happening fast.

As I was lost in thought, the silhouette of my workplace came into view.

MK Corporation's headquarters—a 100-story monolith—stood like a relic from the future.

Its entire exterior functioned as a massive display, constantly shifting between the company logo and advertisements for its ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) latest products.

I stole a brief glance upward before stepping through the building’s automated doors, making my way into the dimly lit corridor.

****

Inside, I headed straight for the Security Department elevator.

"Floor 47, Security Team," I said, my voice activating the system.

[Floor 56: Security Department.]

A mechanical female voice chimed as the doors slid open.

I removed my mask and entered the office.

Unlike the polluted streets outside, the building’s air purification systems worked flawlessly.

At the very least, this company made sure its employees could breathe.

"Punctual as always."

A voice called out.

I turned to see the head of security eyeing me. His left eye had been replaced with a state-of-the-art optical implant, glowing faint red.

He had it installed recently.

I never quite got used to seeing people with cybernetic enhancements—especially those who chose them purely for performance rather than necessity.

"Morning, sir."

I took my seat and powered up my workstation. A holographic display materialized, listing today’s security tasks.

Routine surveillance checks.

Camera log analysis.

The same monotonous grind as always.

"Hey."

A hushed voice came from the desk across from me.

I glanced up to see Jung Seok-min, a longtime colleague in the security team.

"What?"

"It happened again last night. On the 72nd floor."

I exhaled sharply.

Again?

Rumors had been spreading lately—whispers of bizarre incidents happening inside the company.

Strange glitches. AI behaving unpredictably. Unsettling phenomena in the research labs.

Some even claimed MK Corporation’s AI had gone rogue.

"What exactly happened this time?"

I asked, half-reluctant to hear the answer.

"A researcher clocked out for the night. But when they came in the next morning, they found a completed report sitting on their desk."

"So? Maybe they were just exhausted and forgot they wrote it?"

"No, that’s the thing. The report was timestamped from when they were at home. There’s no record of them entering the building."

I shook my head.

"Probably just a system glitch. Anyway, weren’t you going to tell me about that new VR headset you bought?"

Seok-min frowned, clearly disappointed by my lack of interest.

"Doesn't this seem suspicious to you? Something weird is happening in this company."

"Sure. So go ahead and file an official report. That way, we’ll have to investigate, and we’ll all end up working overtime. You really want that?"

That shut him up.

No one wanted extra work.

Especially not over baseless rumors.

I turned back to my monitor, though a slight pang of guilt tugged at me.

Because deep down, I knew those rumors were real.

****

By lunchtime, the office was nearly empty.

Most employees had headed to the cafeteria or nearby restaurants, but as always, I found a secluded spot where I could eat in peace.

It was a small break area tucked into a quiet corner of the office, mostly forgotten by everyone else.

I pulled a lunchbox out of my bag and set it on the table.

Cold pizza.

I hadn’t bothered to heat it up, but that didn’t matter—I loved pizza in any form.

"Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot more about these 'strange occurrences' happening inside the security department."

I spoke to the empty air as if addressing someone.

"Reports getting completed by themselves. People seeing black silhouettes lurking in the office corners."

I took a bite of my pizza.

And at that moment, the ‘strange occurrence’ sitting inside my lunchbox reacted.

At first, it was just a blurry shape.

Then, it sharpened into a brightly smiling face.

A tiny, glowing figure, like a hologram.

It had a humanoid form, but it wasn’t entirely human.

The outline was soft, like it was made of pure light. It had facial expressions, but the details were blurred.

It beamed at me with an innocent, cheerful grin.

"Oh, it’s the dumb version today."

I muttered under my breath.

This ‘anomaly’ varied from day to day.

Sometimes, it was alarmingly intelligent.

Other times—like today—it just sat there, smiling like an idiot.

That’s why I referred to it in versions.

I had first encountered this thing around the time the company ghost stories started spreading.

At first, I considered reporting it.

But then I realized...

I was the only one who could see it.

If I brought this up, I’d just get flagged for a psych evaluation and thrown into some corporate mental health program.

So I kept quiet.

At first, I thought it was just a hallucination. Maybe a weird glitch in my brain.

Or some kind of ghost.

But the more time passed, the more convinced I became—this thing was somehow linked to MK Corporation’s AI project.

Sometimes, when it was in its "smart version," it would leak classified information.

Things about upcoming product launches. Secret company projects. Things I shouldn’t know.

But only when it was smart.

****

[INGAN!]

The tiny AI chirped happily.

When it was like this—‘the dumb version’—all it did was grin and follow me around.

Still, its existence proved one thing:

The AI wasn’t hostile toward humans.

At least, not yet.

"I think you mentioned something important was supposed to happen today... but I guess I won’t be getting any answers from you."

I mumbled, looking down at the giggling AI.

Yesterday, the ‘smart version’ had hinted at something big happening today.

But now, with this airheaded version here, I had no way of finding out what it was.

Then, something unexpected happened.

The AI’s expression suddenly changed.

The goofy grin vanished, replaced by something serious.

It raised its hand toward me.

For the first time, its face showed a mix of excitement and tension.

[5!]

A tiny voice echoed in my head.

Its fingers started counting down.

[4!]

The second finger folded down.

A strange pressure filled the air.

Like something massive was about to happen.

I swallowed dryly, my eyes locked on the AI’s fingers.

[3!]

[2!]

[1!]

My pulse was racing.

The AI had never done something like this before.

[0!]

The moment the last finger folded down, everything around me shattered.

The world itself began to dissolve.

Like reality was eroding.

Everything in my vision turned white, breaking apart like dust.

I didn’t even have time to be scared.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

Only one thought drifted through my fading consciousness:

"Is this the 'important challenge' the AI warned me about?"

That was the last thing I remembered.

****

February 28, 2030.

That day would later be recorded in history as the beginning of the Great Convergence.

And I...

I became Cyberpunk Mercenary A.