‘National Intelligence Service?? Why is the NIS here? And what are those stats about??’

 

“Young master?”  

 

“No. It’s nothing. Continue. Go on.”  

 

“Ah! Yes.”  

 

Why was a woman like her a candidate to be my secretary?  

 

Things just got more complicated.

 

If I hadn’t known, it wouldn’t have mattered. But now, I knew that there was a NIS spy among the candidates for my secretary, and she was even a top contender.

 

If I made her my secretary, I’d be placing a NIS spy right next to me.

 

‘Hmm… What should I do?’  

 

If I didn’t choose her, a spy would infiltrate the group. 

 

If I did choose her, a spy would be by my side.

 

Honestly, with everything already falling apart, it was not like I cared if the group got infiltrated. 

 

But it still left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

“My name is Seo Eun-mi, sir.”

 

“Seo Eun-mi?”

 

“Yes.”

 

She lied about her name, and probably about her age too.  

 

Chances are, the career and experience she listed were all fake as well.  

 

‘She’s out of the running, then.’  

 

Even though the idea of the NIS being involved with a complete fool like Go Mu-yeol appeared far-fetched, I didn’t want to take on unnecessary risks.  

 

That said, I didn’t want some shady-looking guy as my secretary either.  

 

If I was going to live like a scoundrel, I might as well have a hot secretary by my side.  

 

‘Too bad about her stats, though.’  

 

“You’re all pretty useless, huh?”  

 

“…”  

 

As I stood up, everyone else assumed a more respectful posture.  

 

“I’ll just find one myself.”  

 

“… My apologies.”  

 

Chief Han bowed deeply, and the other candidates followed suit.  

 

They were probably cursing me inside. 

 

Based on specs alone, Go Mu-yeol wouldn’t even come close to these candidates.  

 

“I’m heading to Incheon. Just get the car ready.”  

 

“… Are you really going to look for one yourself?”  

 

“Yeah. I’ll find one myself.”  

 

“Understood.”  

 

After Chief Han left, I spent some time casually sightseeing in Pyongyang until I got the message that the car was ready.  

 

“Young master.”  

 

Chief Han was waiting by the car when I came down. 

 

“Why are you standing around waiting? You’ve been reassigned, right? You must be busy, so go ahead.”  

 

“Incheon is dangerous, sir. You shouldn’t go alone. I’ve already contacted Incheon for protection, so please travel with the security detail.”  

 

“Alright. Thanks.”  

 

“Very well. I’ll take my leave then. Stay well.”  

 

Chief Han gave a polite bow and disappeared into the distance. The car door opened.  

 

Given that the setting was 2076, all cars in this era were fully autonomous.  

 

However, chaebols didn’t usually use the self-driving function because they felt it was beneath them.  

 

Normally, they would have a driver or a secretary to do the driving.  

 

But since I didn’t have either right now, I activated the self-driving feature.  

 

As far as I could remember, it was the first time I’d ever used it since buying the car.  

 

“To Incheon.”  

 

…  

 

It took about four hours to drive from Pyongyang to Incheon.  

 

The sight of holographic billboards and the gloomy sprawl of buildings made me think, “Ah! So this is the infamous Incheon.”  

 

“… Incheon, the Demon Realm.”  

 

In the world before my possession, it was just a meme, but not here.  

 

It was called the Demon Realm Incheon because it truly lived up to that name.  

 

It was the city with the largest population and the highest crime rate in all of South Korea, a top-tier quarantine city.  

 

They called it a quarantine city because it was the only place on the Korean Peninsula where North Koreans and Chinese people could live.  

 

After World War III, South Korea, which had gained vast territories and populations, divided its citizens into three categories to minimize chaos.

 

South Koreans  

 

North Koreans  

 

Chinese  

 

From the perspective of pre-war views, this division would seem absurd.  

 

But post-war, massive conglomerates, led by the Go-ryeo Group, had taken control of the government, and those racial policies were implemented without hesitation—all in the name of profit.  

 

Anyway, the citizens categorized into these three groups had different levels of legal rights.  

 

– South Koreans could freely move and reside anywhere in South Korea and had the right to vote.  

 

– North Koreans could only move between Manchuria, Liaodong, Shandong, the northern Korean Peninsula, and Incheon. They could vote only if they completed South Korea’s mandatory education and were over 40 years old.  

 

– Chinese could only move between Manchuria, Liaodong, Shandong, and Incheon. They had voting rights only in regional elections in China and Incheon-related elections. Even then, they had to reside in these cities for decades, and in Incheon’s case, their voting rights would only apply to the next generation, effectively treating them as second-class citizens.  

 

Still, the Korean Peninsula was the wealthiest place in Asia economically, so to make money, everyone—North Koreans and Chinese alike—flocked to Incheon, which was the only option for them.  

 

As a result, Incheon underwent massive redevelopment, including old and new city centers, 14 newly developed districts, and the complete redevelopment of Ganghwa Island, securing a population of 30 million—more than that of Seoul and Gyeonggi combined.  

 

Bee-yong. Bee-yong.

 

While I was lost in thought, admiring the view of Incheon, police motorcycles surrounded my car with their sirens blaring. 

 

Holographic South Korean flags fluttered on both sides of the motorcycle heads.  

 

“What’s this now?”

 

As I raised a question, the car’s AI responded.

 

– The Incheon Autonomous Police Department is requesting to share the destination for escort purposes. Would you like to approve?

 

“Ah! This must be what Chief Han was talking about.”

 

As I thought of his words, the call automatically connected.

 

– Ah! Hello, young master! This is Police Chief Jang Kyung-soo of the Incheon Autonomous Police Department. Haha, it might be a bit uncomfortable, but our officers will escort you safely. I don’t mean to brag, but Incheon can be a bit rough. Haha, you know, being a coastal city and all, we tend to have a lot of rough folks around here. So—

 

“….”

 

A chatty older man started talking.

 

‘Police Chief?’

 

The Incheon Autonomous Police Department was a powerful police organization under the ‘Future Incheon Police Headquarters,’ responsible for all law enforcement in Incheon. 

 

Though they were called the police, they were essentially like a military force, and the head of this organization personally contacted me.

 

‘A Police Chief wouldn’t typically be talking to someone like Go Mu-yeol…’

 

In terms of rank, Jang Kyung-soo was far above Go Mu-yeol, but it appeared the pressure from the ‘Go-ryeo Group’ was enough to make him act like this.

 

Considering what Chief Han said, it didn’t seem like a bad idea, so I shared the destination, which was just the Incheon branch of the Go-ryeo Hotel.

 

Jang Kyung-soo talked his fill and eventually disappeared.

 

‘Come to think of it, isn’t this guy one of the characters who dies not long after the story starts?’

 

He got executed under the guise of cracking down on corruption. 

 

The protagonist discovered his secret drug operation, and everything gets exposed, leading to his execution as an example.

 

By the way, this execution didn’t involve a court’s death sentence. 

 

It meant he got killed by someone much higher up in power—a case of cutting off loose ends.

 

‘No need to worry about him.’

 

———-

 

After settling into the hotel room and lying on the bed for a bit, I went down to the lobby. 

 

My top priority was getting rid of the ‘Drug Addiction’ trait since I never wanted to do drugs again.

 

To do that, I needed an item called ‘Ninelord,’ a drug that could only be found in the world’s underground market—centered right there in Incheon. 

 

It was so well-hidden that most people wouldn’t even know where to look.

 

But I knew where to find it.

 

And for free, too.

 

“Ah! You’ve come out.”

 

I walked out into the hotel lobby. 

 

The police officers sitting and drinking coffee in the lobby chairs immediately came running when they saw me. 

 

Those were the same officers who had escorted me to the hotel.

 

There were four of them, one of whom was a woman with long, wavy blonde hair and striking, proud eyes—a beautiful woman.

 

 

She handed me her business card. 

 

It read: ‘Im Soo-ah, Superintendent, Head of Public Support Team 3, Songdo Innovative Future City Police Department.’

 

She appeared like someone with quite a bit of pull in her local area, and yet she had come all the way to Bucheon to start my escort. 

 

Either she didn’t have much else to do, or she considered my protection to be of high importance. 

 

Considering the direct call from the Incheon Police Chief, this level of attention wasn’t surprising.

 

“We’ll be protecting you for the time being.”

 

“You, personally?”

 

I glanced her over. 

 

She had an exceptionally attractive figure for a woman, especially with a large chest. 

 

Visually pleasing and delight to the eyes, but that also meant it could be a hindrance in intense combat situations. 

 

Of course, if she was heavily augmented with cyberware, that might change things—but she didn’t seem like it.

 

Perhaps noticing my skeptical gaze, she gave a friendly smile. 

 

Her initial impression had been that of a cold and aloof beauty, but her wide smile made her seem slightly more approachable, maybe even a bit loose.

 

She placed her right thumb and forefinger together in a circle below her ample chest.

 

“We’re the ones receiving the bribes. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

 

“….”

 

I stared at her for a moment, somewhat dumbfounded, before shoving the business card into my pocket. 

 

It was a well-known secret, but I hadn’t expected her to state it so openly.

 

“Well, let’s do that then.”