Aeng-du

Personality Aeng-du is a deeply determined person, somebody who is willing to push herself through extreme situations for those she cares about, most especially Bamboo-hatted Kim. She has an unshakable determination even in hopeless situations, expressing the importance in trying her absolute best even if she expects to fail. However, she carries a deep-seated worry over her own position in society, exacerbated after being forced from the District she once called home, something that she shares a kinship with Yi Sang about.

She shows a more casual side of her personality around her Mentor, readily chastising him over his laziness, frequently attacking him for his avoidant nature. Similarly, she acts exponentially more devout towards him, singing his praises at every possible moment in an attempt towards building up others' expectations of him while also disquieting him enough to spur him into action. These are not entirely misplaced, as she truly cares for and trusts him, though she understands his divide in casualness being vastly different between those he trusts and outsiders. Despite Kim's status as her Mentor, she treats him more like an equal peer.

Story Prior to Limbus Company Aeng-du was a resident of District 19 and member of the Blade Lineage, attempting to fight against the corruption found in the District. Eventually, they were forced to leave for their safety, and the mentor of the Blade Lineage, Bamboo-hatted Kim, led them in search of a new home. While attempting to find territory to call their own, they came into conflict with the Kurokumo Clan and Bamboo-hatted Kim decided to accept an invitation from the Library to escape the other Syndicate. At the Library, Aeng-du and the other Blade Lineage members were defeated and turned into books.

Intervallo III: Yield My Flesh to Claim Their Bones Shortly before the events of Intervallo III, the Syndicate returned from their book forms and found themselves in the Backstreets of District 20, although not all would awaken in the same place. Aeng-du and a group of her fellow Blade Lineage members were separated from their mentor and, in their search for him, would run into the Kurokumo Clan and were forced to fight them. Despite their best attempts, the Blade Lineage was outnumbered and unprepared, leading to their near total defeat. Luckily for Aeng-du, the Sinners got involved with the fight while searching for information and, upon seeing her severely wounded state, Don Quixote requested that they fight to save the woman. Dante had a gut feeling that Aeng-du has the information they seek, so they brought her back to Mephistopheles after defeating the Kurokumo Clan members.

On the bus, Yi Sang treated Aeng-du's wounds and calmed her down when she assumed the Sinners are a threat to her. The two bond over both being from District 19 and she explained to him the story of the Blade Lineage and how she came to be here. Recalling those memories reminded her of how Bamboo-hatted Kim was still missing, making her urge the Sinners to make their way to the Yong-jin Building to help find her mentor. It turned out that Dante's assumption that she would be related to their mission was correct, and the group made their way to the building where they fought their way upwards past groups of Kurokumo Clan members. At the top floor, they ran into Jun, a Captain of the Kurokumo Clan, and Aeng-du drew her blade against him. Unfortunately, due to her extremely injured state from the earlier battles, she collapsed to the ground without landing a hit on him. The Sinners defeat Jun in battle, and Aeng-du recovered enough in the meantime to tie him up and interrogate him.

In this conversation with Jun, Aeng-du learned what happened when Bamboo-hatted Kim awoke from being a book. Jun explained that after witnessing the death of many of the Blade Lineage members that had appeared alongside him, the man began to cut down ally and foe alike. In order to protect his men, Jun decided to lock Bamboo-hatted Kim in the room and wait for the Thumb to arrive for the object the Kurokumo Clan was guarding before the sudden arrival of the Blade Lineage. This information shocks Aeng-du, but she still wanted to talk to her mentor in the hopes he can explain what happened. Following this, she knocks Jun unconscious and opened the door to find a distorted Bamboo-hatted Kim standing before her. He gave no response to her questions, and when she stepped too close, prepared to strike. Sinclair managed to push her out of his blade's path, saving her life, and the Sinners prepare to suppress the Distortion.

Inside the Fathoms of Bamboo-hatted Kim's ego, the group learned the truth of his past and Aeng-du begins to understand the circumstances that lead him to become the person that he is. The Sinners successfully suppress the Distortion and learn that the object the Kurokumo Clan was guarding is known as the Monolith and can influence nearby people to distort. With help from the LCD, Dante brought Bamboo-hatted Kim to his normal form. Aeng-du was still distraught over the fact he had cut down his fellows and drove her blade deep into her mentor's flesh. She mentions hearing a voice becoming more clear as she gets closer to distorting, and Dante quickly ordered Meursault to knock her out. This stops the process, and Aeng-du and Bamboo-hatted Kim were both taken by the LCA so that the LCD can study the Monolith's effects on them.

Canto IX: The Unsevering After being taken in by Limbus Company she officially joined the LCD as a member of the Distortion Task Force, and was present among the survivors of The House of Spiders's assault on the company's headquarters.

After being separated into groups due to the headquarter security systems locking the larger collective into smaller groups, Aeng-du was a part of a group consisting of her, Moses, Ezra, Hong Lu, Rodion, Outis, and Ishmael. This group, with aims to suppress any rampant Abnormality, Distortion, or Peccatula, located deeper in the facility. Within the LCE research team security unit's room, the group witnessed a display of Matthias slaughtering LCA members, only to be surprised by Kira who watched alongside them. While she admonished Kira, the latter simply viewed Aeng-du as a reflection of a fellow fan of her beloved "The Cloudburst Blade", beginning a one-sided discussion of the media. This talk was immediately ceased, as Matthias came searching for his apprentice, prompting the LCD and company to begin an impromptu game of hide and seek with the apprentice after a brief confrontation with the Nursefather.

While hiding, Aeng-du prepared for an oncoming battle through acquiring one of Ezra's specialized Workshop-grade weapons, a Metzil Workshop broadsword. Soon after, Aeng-du is shocked by the ability of Matthias to instantly defeat Drenched Gossypium while it battled Kira. With few options left, and the Sinners present falling unconscious due to Dante's powers, Ezra, Moses, and Aeng-du prepare for battle with the Nursefather. Utilizing a combined effort of Moses abusing the latent Distortion within Matthias, a released Ambling Pearl dousing Matthias in paralytic slime, and Aeng-du and Ezra prepared to battle, they prepared an assault aiming to behead Matthias - they are unsuccessful, however, as the target utilizes a Moonlight Stone to free himself from Moses' shackles, both physically through her smoke and the mental of impending Distortion. In the brief moment of freedom, he fought back against the two attacking him, causing Aeng-du's arms to be severed, still holding her blade. Though Matthias viewed the effort as commendable, his opponents found the situation unwinnable; a feeling quelled soon after as Vespa, newly appointed to the role of a Color Fixer, began combat against the Nursefather to the point of a stalemate, where he is forced to abscond with Kira in tow.

Four days later, while preparing for the raid on the House of Spiders, Aeng-du was present to speak alongside the LCD team. Joining her faction alongside the rest in oncoming battle, she was comforted by Ezra with the notion to "think about what style of new arms she will want". Acting as a helping voice to the group, she spectated their battle against Matthias.

Some time following Operation Spider Pyre, Aeng-du went shopping alongside Ezra for new arms and a sword, acquiring

Intervallo VII: Mnestic Experience After reports of a Distortion within N Corp.'s Backstreets, members of LCD were deployed to Butter Street, aiming to discover the cause for the reports. Among this group, Aeng-du and Bamboo-hatted Kim were deployed to assist. While the Sinners were initially caught off-guard by Kim's sudden change in demeanor from when they last saw him, Aeng-du explained the fact his personality was always so lax, he merely puts on a serious personality among strangers, something previously exacerbated by his declining mental state. Among the group, she played an important role in combatting the N Corp. employees, as well as having to track down Kim. While tracking information revolving around the local Distortion Flash Phenomenon, the area around the group was manifested to appear similar to the Backstreets of S Corp., distorted to fit Kim's angst. Aeng-du recognized this as the home District of her and her Mentor, though was confounded by its vague difference from reality.

Amidst the investigation, the group was repeatedly struggling to keep track of Bamboo-hatted Kim, leading to Aeng-du and Ezra's frequent frustration. After a momentary annoyance, however, he remained with the group as they located the screening room housing the Distortion, a projector showing the text of the Distortion victim's thoughts. While Aeng-du attempted to speak to her Mentor over her fears of his actions, she was interrupted as a manifestation of Im Gyeong-eop appeared as the group's next foe. During combat, the group grew exhausted by the frequent switching of foes between Flash Phenomenon's flashes, to which they decided to attempt forcing the Distortion into its Dungeon of the Fathoms. Dante deciphered and recited the code used to do this, allowing the group to travel inwards, leaving Ezra behind to deal with the N Corp. Feathers.

Within the fathoms, the group traversed the manifestations of Kim's past as he gradually came to re-experience the trauma that still haunted him. Here, Aeng-du learned about her Mentor's dear friend being a military commander of S Corp. This brought confusion to her, seeing him now as the leader of a wayward Syndicate, though he promised her she'll come to understand. Seeing the following memories of Kim being betrayed by the Right Councilor, as well as his jailing and subsequent freedom bestowed by Im Gyeong-eop, she found a deeper understanding of her Mentor.

Deeper within the fathoms, Kim was finally forced to confront the manifestation of Gyeong-eop. Aeng-du pushed him to remember her truer self, dampening the intensity of the manifestation. Even still, the group struggled in combat against the woman, unable to best her. Kim, seeing his chance, locked blades with the woman while orating his inevitable loss of their duel and death. Though Gyeong-eop accepted this, and the two readied their final clash, Aeng-du interfered. In a fit of anger towards her Mentor's readiness to die, she no longer held back her words, shaming him in his preparation to give up. Reminding him that the Blade Lineage never was created for him to take responsibility, she pushed her Mentor to reflect on his actions: after a brief dialogue with a certain voice, he found the will to continue on, temporarily manifesting E.G.O and managing to strike down the Im Gyeong-eop manifestation. With the Distortion defeated, the fathoms closed with the group being returned to their entry point, leaving only the fading manifestation of Im Gyeong-eop to behead the man behind Flash Phenomenon.

With the case resolved, albeit unexpectedly, Aeng-du was given a chance to remind her Mentor of the importance of his presence. Succumbing to her expectations, Kim agrees he will remain a frequent member of the LCD's jobs, allowing Aeng-du to release her grip on his robe's hem. Soon after, the group was forced into another situation, beginning with the arrest of Meursault.

Trivia Concept art for a character resembling Aeng-du first appeared in the art book for Library Of Ruina; Aeng-du mentions fighting in the Library but is not seen among the Blade Lineage members fought in-game, likely due to the faction's role being reduced during development. Aeng-du translates to "cherry", which is what she is called in the files.

Appearance: General Information Gender: Female Occupation: LCD On-site Investigative Reasoning Team: Blade Lineage Salsu Affiliations: Limbus Company (LCD) Blade Lineage Relations: Bamboo-hatted Kim (Mentor, coworker), Moses (Team Leader), Ezra (Coworker), & Vespa (Coworker)

Appearance Aeng-du is a short young woman with pale skin and large black eyes. She wears her black hair long, with it reaching her ankles. Her forehead is obscured by a set of blunt, black bangs, with two strands resting just past her ears. She wears a red headband at all times, and two beads hold the end of her hair together: a smaller, red one on top, and a larger white one underneath it.

She wears a deep navy hoodie emblazoned with the LCD logo on its left shoulder, over a white button-down with a red tie. Over her top, she wears a small black vest and an employee ID. At her waist, she wears a dark pleated skirt over a set of similarly colored slacks, her feet covered by leather boots. Her arms are replaced by a set of dark, highly augmented, prosthetic arms. She carries a Mook Workshop blade, notable for its black sheathe with a pale silver ornamentation. From its silver hilt, a red tassel hangs.

During her time when she was primarily a Blade Lineage Salsu, she wore a seat of deep navy Dopo robes with a white trim, tied at her waist. Beneath her robes, she wore a high-necked black garment. From her sash dangled two tassels, one red, the other white. Her bulky sleeves bundled into gloved hands, with her fingers exposed. She wore black leggings, with dark loafers ornamented by a white vertical strip across them. She wielded a black hwando with a gold hilt and pommel, with one red tassel hanging from it.

Meeting and Greeting Scenario Aeng-du of the Limbus Company Distortion Task Force