I had diligently carried out every commission from Raffles without fail, day after day, all to earn recognition for my abilities.
Why?
It's because of the incident that will happen in a week.
Before this incident, Raffles was merely a skilled contract crime organization. But after it, they would become one of the world's most notorious criminal syndicates, their name alone enough to send shivers down spines.
They might exclude me if they think my skills aren't up to par. That's why I've been working so hard to prove myself.
What Raffles was planning was no ordinary feat. They could easily have left me out, given my lack of established trust.
My determination to earn their recognition stemmed from this very lack of trust.
"Everyone gather. Son Jeonghu will definitely tell us the story tonight. Some already seem to know something."
I grinned.
The moment I obtain the Illusioner, this world is goodbye.
...
"Everyone's here. Judging by your faces, it seems nothing major has happened while I was away. That's a relief."
Son Jeonghu surveyed the conference room as he spoke. The Raffles members had settled into their usual spots: some sat on chairs, others perched on the table, leaned against the wall, or sprawled on the floor.
I sat normally in a chair, focusing my attention on Son Jeonghu.
"Leader, why the sudden summons? Another new recruit?" Yu Geuntae asked. Son Jeonghu shook his head.
"No. I think it's time we start operating more seriously."
"...'Full-scale'? So everything we've done so far wasn't full-scale?"
It was Jackie. I heard he joined Raffles a year before me.
"Ah, that's not what I meant. We've always taken our work seriously. But this time, all ten of us are involved. I think this might be the first time we've all worked together on a single operation. That's what I meant by 'full-scale'."
"...All ten of us? Are we planning to raid a military base or something?" Train asked gravely.
Son Jeonghu chuckled. "Why would we need ten people to raid a simple military base, Train? Five of you could probably handle most bases on your own."
"Ugh! Stop beating around the bush and just say it! What are you planning to do?!" Hyunji snapped, leaping to her feet.
True to her fiery temperament, she didn't mince words. Every time I saw her, I wondered why she even watched Korean dramas.
Most of them were melodramatic trash, the kind that would make you want to tear your hair out from frustration.
Even if they weren't trashy, dramas and Hyunji just didn't seem like a good match.
"Alright, I'll get straight to the point... We're going to rob Seoul City Hall."
Silence descended. Even Hyunji's jaw dropped at the sheer absurdity of the statement.
This Seoul City Hall is nothing like the real one, I thought.
In the world of XTK, Seoul City Hall was the largest building in the city and the heart of Seoul.
National Assemblymen flocked to City Hall, not the National Assembly Building, whenever major state affairs arose.
The power of the Mayor of Seoul, the de facto ruler of the city, rivaled even that of the President in some respects.
In essence, raiding Seoul City Hall was tantamount to attacking the very center of South Korea.
And yet, absurdly, we actually pulled it off.
This was precisely why Raffles had risen to become a world-class criminal organization.
My objective was the Illusioner housed within Seoul City Hall.
"...Leader. What's the plan?"
Ulla, who had been leaning silently against the wall, finally spoke.
Son Jeonghu grinned brightly, as if he had been waiting for this question. He tapped his smartwatch, projecting a screen for everyone to see.
"Of course there is. Here. The man who looks like he swears a lot is Won Cheonsu, the Mayor of Seoul.
He's from Gangwon Province and turns 60 this year. His birthday is exactly one week from now the same day we'll be attacking Seoul City Hall."
Mayor Won Cheonsu is the genius developer who discovered and commercialized Eclers. His monumental achievement is what propelled him to become Mayor of Seoul.
"...What's the objective? It better not be something trivial," Train asked.
"What comes to mind when you think of birthdays? Cake? Sure, that's part of it. But what really makes birthdays exciting is the gifts. Mayor Won Cheonsu is a super-popular guy. He must get tons of presents, right?"
"The Leader has a tendency to spout nonsense sometimes. This is important. Speak clearly."
"...Ah. Right. The objective is the latest airship blueprints, a gift from Cracksah to Mayor Won Cheonsu."
I know Son Jeonghu's true motive: the Eclers Miniature Fusion Engine hidden within those blueprints. He plans to use it to enhance his mechanical body.
"...I don't understand why they'd give the Mayor something like that as a birthday gift."
"The gift is just a pretext. It's basically saying, 'We'll build an airship according to these blueprints and present it to you. Please grant us some favors in return.'"
"Is it really worth that much?"
"It's Cracksah's latest airship blueprint. We could sell it to a competitor for at least 200 billion won.
Besides, there's no rule saying we have to steal just the blueprint.
Let's loot the whole place. Even if we only grab the essentials, we could probably make several trillion won."
Trillion.
The members fell silent at the mention of a unit even larger than a hundred billion. Hyunji was the first to break the silence.
"...Sounds fun! With that kind of money, we could retire right away!"
"Of course, we'll divide the money fairly. You can retire after this job if you want."
I scoffed.
Retire after this job? Bullshit. Son Jeonghu would consider anyone who retired a traitor and have them secretly killed. That's how Train died.
"What's the specific plan?" Ulla asked.
"Of course I have one. I obtained information about the latest airship three months ago. I've been preparing diligently ever since."
The screen switched to display the blueprints of Seoul City Hall.
"This is the complete blueprint for Seoul City Hall. Since the building hasn't undergone any renovations or expansions, it should be 100% accurate."
I studied the blueprints.
Seoul City Hall was a tower-shaped building with a total of 222 floors, including the underground levels. Twenty-two floors were below ground, while the remaining 200 were above ground.
And I knew of a secret location not shown on the blueprints.
How did Son Jeonghu obtain these blueprints?
Even in the original work, the source of Son Jeonghu's intelligence remains a mystery.
The prevailing theory, based on internet forum posts, suggests he had spies planted in high-ranking positions within the South Korean government.
So, they still don't know about what's hidden beneath the surface. Well, it's not revealed until the later chapters in the original story anyway.
Obtaining these blueprints alone was an extraordinary feat.
"And this outlines the security arrangements for the upcoming week. Seoul City Hall will be guarded by 5,052 elite soldiers, along with five government special agents. Naturally, their defense systems are well-prepared. Any external assault would be met with missile fire, and any internal disturbance would trigger the elite soldiers to eliminate us."
"This is no joke," Yu Geuntae groaned.
The blueprints showed no apparent weaknesses. Apart from the main entrance and four underground passages, Seoul City Hall had no other access points.
"The key here is to disable Seoul City Hall's main system. Once the main system goes down, all its associated defense systems will be neutralized as well."
Son Jeonghu looked at me, his gaze conveying a simple message: You're going to disable the city hall's main system.
"Which floor is the main system located on?" I asked Son Jeonghu.
He chuckled. "The 190th floor. Since you said your hacking range is 50 meters... you'll barely be able to reach it from the 175th floor."
I nodded. The blueprints confirmed his assessment.
"Seoul City Hall has both a main system and a backup system, Taker. I'd love for you to disable both, but... that's probably too much to ask. The main system at Seoul City Hall is considered the best in Korea."
"Exactly. We'll only have a few seconds to hack it. There's no way we can hack the backup system too."
"If the main system goes down completely, they'll have to manually switch to the backup system. Seoul City Hall's technicians are top-tier.
They'll probably switch within an hour and a half? Two hours at most. We need to finish our work and escape before Seoul's systems recover."
"So we have to finish everything within an hour. But how are we going to infiltrate the place?"
"Taker, who do you think I am? I'm the leader of Raffles! Of course I've prepared the infiltration methods. And I need your help here."
"Good evening. I'm Police Captain Park Shinhan of the 3rd Special Police Unit, directly under Seoul City Hall. May I see your invitation, please?"
A man in a black helmet and specialized combat suit addressed me politely.
Without the slightest hesitation, I handed him the invitation I was holding. It was a luxurious card with gold-leaf embossing. The officer scanned the card with a device and returned it to me.
"President Yu Jaewon of Grapple Corporation, I presume? Welcome."
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Not at all. Are the people behind you all with you?"
I turned to look behind me.
Including myself, there were ten members of Raffles in total. Everyone except Ulla was dressed in sharp formal attire.
"Yes, these are my company employees and my personal bodyguards. Is there any chance they could all enter together?"
"That's not possible. Only one person can accompany you to the Party Hall on the 150th floor. The others will have to wait in the Waiting Room. And we'll need to conduct a security check according to regulations."
"If it's regulations, there's nothing we can do. Will it take long?"
"Three minutes should be sufficient. Oh, and weapons aren't allowed. You'll need to hand them over to us for safekeeping."
I couldn't avoid the security check either, but I was cleared in under thirty seconds.
"You're a Normal, I see."
"My father is rather conservative."
I said with a sly grin. The reason I was serving as President of Grapple Corporation was also because I was a Normal.
In this world, Normals are often referred to as outsiders. However, this label doesn't quite apply to the upper echelons of the Republic of Korea.
Unlike other countries, Confucian culture still lingers in South Korea a remnant of its past.
After all, haven't we often heard the saying in real life, (The body and hair are received from one's parents)?
The high-ranking officials in this world tended to be quite old-fashioned.
When I first heard that saying, I wondered why they were looking for parents who had received something.
I crossed my arms and waited. We were already aware of this security check and had prepared thoroughly. Our identity verification would pose no problem; the identities we possessed were already verified forgeries.
"Yes, no problem at all. And here's the card key for the Waiting Room where you'll be staying."
I took the card key and read the number printed on it.
"Room A1312?"
"That's on the 131st floor. Please wait there. The party will begin at exactly 10 PM on the 150th floor. Only one guest per invitation is allowed. Please take note of that."
"Yes. But since we didn't have dinner, we're a bit hungry. Is there a restaurant here?"
"There's a restaurant on the 120th floor. Show your invitation, and you can dine there for free."
"Thank you."
With that, I led my group into the first floor.
...This place is ridiculously huge.
The first 30 floors housed Seoul City Hall's administrative offices.
They say the Mayor of Seoul's birthday party has shut down operations for three days.
For three days, operations at Seoul City Hall were paralyzed. In the real world, such a disruption would immediately spark public outrage. But in this world, no citizen dared to cross the Mayor of Seoul.
Even the internet is eerily quiet. That's proof they're monitoring everything.
A rumor was spreading online like a ghost story: a friend had fallen out of favor with the Mayor and suddenly disappeared.
They call this the Republic of Korea? It's just a dictatorship.
We took the elevator to the 131st floor and entered Room A1312. The amenities rivaled those of a luxury hotel.
The Raffles members began moving around the room, inspecting every corner for hidden surveillance cameras and listening devices.
"No bugs or cameras," Jackie announced ten minutes later. His X-ray vision made his assessment reliable.
"Taker, your acting was impressive. Did you study professionally?"
Son Jeonghu sat on the plush bed, grinning. We were playing roles: I was the President of Grapple Corporation, and he was my Chief of Staff.
"No way. That couldn't be it. I just acted shamelessly."
"Acting shamelessly is the hardest part."
Son Jeonghu flopped back completely onto the bed.
"Wow, this bed is incredibly soft."
"..."
I chuckled at his remark.
It was hard to take seriously coming from a guy whose entire body, except for his brain, was mechanical.
He might look human, but he was ultimately a machine. Even if they replicated the artificial nervous system, it couldn't match the nuances of human sensation. He probably couldn't even feel the slightest touch.
He probably doesn't have one of those down there either.
Even with an artificial penis, he'd still be as good as castrated. No machine could ever replicate the delicate, intricate pleasure of human sexuality.