"'Ark of the Covenant/Save File'? Never heard of it. Maybe that's just Earth-01's way of saying 'Archive Cabinet/Save File'..."
So, the Collectors had a way to break free of the Archive Cabinet's control?
At first Li Pan couldn't understand why anyone would risk their lives to defect from a company as terrifying as Monster Corp. But now, he himself was tempted.
Forget the company's cutthroat business model for a moment—just think about the monsters. About the Archive Cabinet.
Resurrection on the spot! A rebuilt body! All prior damage wiped away! A free cheat code! Simply outrageous.
Other employees probably saw it as life restored, a chance to start fresh, a company-issued benefit.
But could something so good really be free?
Li Pan wasn't a fool. It's the 22nd century—he still gets scam calls telling him he won a luxury car, a million credits, and six months of free service. If he could, he'd slap the caller straight through the line for insulting his intelligence.
And even setting aside the unknown price of using the Archive Cabinet, there was the shredder—Existence Deletion. That alone was enough to make his skin crawl.
Even now, he could recall the last manager being fed into the shredder, erased into ash. The sight was still burned into his mind.
Honestly, when he asked Big Bear for help getting hired, it was only to find some temp work, pay off his loans, keep food on the table.
If he hadn't been beaten half-dead, left with no options, he'd never have signed that slave contract. Never have become the company's dog.
It wasn't about pride.
Odd jobs, scavenging, mercenary gigs—poor, hard, dangerous, yes. But at least your life was still your own.
Work for the company, and you had no choice.
Look outside—the tens of thousands of Tokugawa corpses weren't even cold yet. Who could still not understand?
So yes, Li Pan could sympathize with those within the company tempted to defect to the Collectors.
And he could also see why 01 would crush a whole planet just to set an example, wiping out the Collectors and anyone who harbored them.
The Archive Cabinet was the company's core.
Every branch had to have a manager, and that was clearly tied to the Cabinet's rules.
Li Pan himself only became acting manager because he had a saved résumé.
Three subsidiaries already absorbed. That alone proved the Collectors had mastered the Cabinet's core functions—not just escaping it, but weaponizing it.
This wasn't market competition anymore. It was war.
The Collectors' existence was the greatest act of disrespect.
Realizing this, Li Pan dared not speak further.
Who knew if 01044 had slipped up, or if she'd revealed it on purpose?
She was a head office operative from Earth-01. What if this was a loyalty test? Fail, and he'd be shredded.
So Li Pan seized the chance to show devotion.
"Watch out! Land mines!"
"Land mines?" 01044 echoed.
Yes, buried right between uneven stone tiles—old-style pressure mines. No production numbers. Likely local workshop gear.
"Why didn't my implants pick them up?" she asked.
Li Pan explained: "Don't trust civilian scanners too much. Most so-called ocular implants just use basic lidar, or even piggyback on civilian network signals. Military gear avoids that. The simpler, the better. These mines have no circuits, no wireless. Just pressure triggers, plastic casings, ECCM coating. Designed to stall enemy advances. Nothing fancy, but invisible."
01044's eyes lit up. "Can you disarm them?"
Li Pan shook his head. "Not without proper gear. One mine means a hundred. Clearly the Collectors brought in experts."
"Then what about flying over?" she asked, pulling out a propeller rig.
Li Pan winced. "Too slow. And in close quarters, they might have flea mines or wall sensors. We'd be sitting ducks."
01044 nodded. "Then no need to waste time sneaking. Let's knock."
She crushed two Philosopher's Stones between her teeth, pink liquid spilling from her lips, then pulled a broken blowtorch from her bag. A spark, and golden flame roared forth.
"Diophilus's Holy Fire."
The blast surged like a phoenix spreading its wings, engulfing the castle. The towering walls became a funeral pyre, screaming as they melted.
Li Pan shivered in his trembling suit—no, the suit itself was shivering, ready to abandon him in terror. That alone showed how lethal the Holy Fire was to guardians.
When the flames died, the castle was reduced to blackened husks.
"Looks empty," she said, discarding the torch and pulling out a lamp fitted with another Stone. Pale light washed over the ruins as she searched.
Li Pan followed, hammer in hand. "Maybe they saw the dreadnought and pulled out. No way they could fight the—"
He froze.
A fleshy throne, a grotesque bed, appeared in the ruin. Upon it sprawled a horror: a hairless beast, goat horns, sagging belly, limbs like hooves. Where its head should be was only a vertical maw of flesh.
Six, seven meters tall. RPGs would bounce off it. Only ship-guns could kill something like this.
"01044, you see this too, right? My eyes aren't broken?"
She didn't answer—just stared.
"Belial… how long have you been here? Which generation is this?"
A silvery laugh rippled through the air.
"Maria… long time no see. What spell will you try this time?"
01044 frowned. "So many centuries, and you've made new friends. Tell me—what are you trying to bring into the world?"
"Guess," Belial teased.
The two spoke in tongues, words not meant for human throats. Li Pan barely caught enough to know—it was pregnant.
Enough talk. He hefted the hammer. "Oi, 044. I'll tank, you DPS?"
"Don't," she warned. "Stay back."
"You'll solo this? It's a raid boss!"
She shook her head. "It's giving birth. Let's see what it spawns."
Li Pan nearly exploded. "Are you kidding me?!"
But she only smiled, holding glass shards to her eyes, analyzing. "It's gone through at least three cycles of descent. Strongest I've ever seen. It could rip this world into its own hell. I can't banish it now. Better to study what it births."
"Study?!" Li Pan howled.
She laughed softly, childlike curiosity sparkling in her face.
Li Pan cursed, slammed the cloth mask onto his face, and transformed. He charged with the Philosopher's Hammer raised high.
"Careful—its aura," she said.
Aura?
A violet halo burst from Belial's horns, a wave of pure annihilation.
Li Pan's suit ripped itself free in terror, fleeing his body.
"Fuck—"
The blast struck him full-force. The hammer shattered, pink magic vaporized. He was thrown like a ragdoll.
01044 calmly threw a cloth over him, snuffing the purple fire. His body was charred, smoking, stinking of burnt flesh.
"You cowardly bastard," he rasped at his runaway suit.
01044 only shrugged. "Your guardian's been wounded before, hasn't it? Once they nearly die, they'll run from true death again. Time to find a new one."
"Thanks for telling me now! Damn scammer!"
Furious, Li Pan drew his Sword Orb, eyes blazing.
"You want a fight? Fine! Demon-Slayer, kill!"
The blade flared into a rainbow arc—
Belial laughed, mouth opening like a black trumpet, swallowing the strike whole.
01044 sighed. "It's the lord of this pocket realm. Don't challenge it with outside rules."
Blood-winds screamed. A golden flash severed Belial's horned head in one stroke.
01044 arched a brow. "…Oh."
Li Pan caught his blade, flipped Belial off, then collapsed face-first.
His turn was over.
.
.
.
⚠️ 30 CHAPTERS AHEAD — I'm Not a Cyberpsycho ⚠️
The system says: Kill.Mercs obey. Corporates obey. Monsters obey.One man didn't.
🧠💀 "I'm not a cyberpsycho. I just think... differently."
💥 High-voltage cyberpunk. Urban warfare. AI paranoia.Read 30 chapters ahead, only on Patreon.
🔗 patreon.com/DrManhattanEN