Chapter 16

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 16: Classic Game Enthusiasts (3)

Illegal mercenaries.

As the name suggests, they refer to mercenaries who mainly undertake illegal missions.

In fact, if you look at it from a broader perspective, even in the vicinity of ordinary people, there were quite a few people who could be described as illegal mercenaries.

Whether it was in the lower streets like Chinatown or Little Shinjuku,

or even just going to Redwood, it was overflowing with gangs composed of illegal mercenaries.

When you think about it, being a mercenary itself was like that.

Unlike other professional fields where certification is required for undertaking tasks, being a mercenary doesn’t necessarily require a license.

All that’s needed is skill and a track record.

In a world where countless bandits dive into the mercenary industry and perish every day, the difference between illegal mercenaries and regular mercenaries wasn’t as significant as one might think.

So, what exactly are illegal contracts?

This was simpler to explain than before.

Illegal contracts are those that could be considered harmful to the city.

Simply put, if you don’t abide by the city’s laws, it could be termed as an “illegal contract.”

If you undertake a task and fail to pay the prescribed taxes, that too would be considered an illegal contract.

Perhaps because of this, the status of illegal contracts in Neon City was relatively low and narrow.

There were other reasons as well.

Ever since ‘No Answer’ took over the mercenary industry in Neon City, they strictly prohibited taking on illegal contracts.

In fact, as far as I know, there were quite a few people who secretly undertook contracts under the radar.

However, if caught even once, they would be expelled from No Answer, and they wouldn’t be able to receive contracts from any other intermediaries influenced by them.

Because of such risks, the number of people willing to undertake illegal contracts was definitely lower than before.

But humans (including all races) are a certain kind of creature.

If their desired path is blocked, finding a way back or discovering a new path is the way humans (including all races) live.

Since I’ve never taken on illegal contracts myself,

I don’t really know much about it.

Roughly speaking, it’s said to be divided into various factions.

There are those who suggest creating secret sites through the Net Space for exchanging contracts.

And there were many who said they would only undertake contracts with people they could trust by meeting them in person, as tasks involving high risks required direct contact.

Eventually, with time passing by, only one method remained.

In the end, that’s how it came to be.

It was inconvenient to use outdated input/output devices like monitors and keyboards.

It had graphics and gameplay that weren’t enjoyable for those interested in it.

Since it wasn’t a virtual reality game, it was difficult to see actual damage from hacking, so the risk was low.

Moreover, the operators physically separated the servers, ensuring security.

Thus, a single “game” was born.

It was even nominally an ordinary (or strange) game, making it easy to avoid suspicion.

Since there were no data logs left on the servers, it was perfect for having secretive conversations and engaging in illegal activities.

If this story is true, it wouldn’t be surprising that the game lacked endgame content and had poor gameplay.

…Hmm.

So.

“Do you expect me to believe all this?”

“…It’s true.”

I was baffled.

* * *

I’ve mentioned it once before, but there’s a ‘setting’ that has changed since the game became reality.

It’s normal for even the NPCs you pass by on the street to have specific ‘stories’.

But this was a part I hadn’t thought of before.

I don’t remember hearing about it while playing the game in the past.

Well, maybe I did, but I just can’t recall.

After all, about ten years have passed since I played the game.

Except for the main characters and main storylines, the rest didn’t come to mind easily.

It was unavoidable.

But on the flip side, it means that I remember parts about the main characters.

Hostile NPCs in the game.

A villain and a wanted criminal who loved rabbit dolls.

Julia took a big bite of the tomato spaghetti she ordered. By the way, the menu stated that it contained 0.0% tomato.

With her cheeks full and food in her mouth, she looked like an ordinary girl of her age.

But that was not the reality.

“…Um, so what you’re saying is…”

It’s a ‘game’ primarily used for trading illegal contracts.

She said she had never seen someone actually ‘hunting’ while playing that game, so she was curious to meet them to see what they looked like.

“Is that so?”

“…Yes.”

It was surprising that the game I enjoyed casually playing had a hidden secret that rivaled that of the Deep Net.

But it was even more surprising to find out the true identity of the user who played that game with me was actually a famous wanted criminal.

I just played that game since it suited my taste, but I had no idea it would leave such a deep impression on a well-known wanted criminal.

I wanted to prove my innocence and let them know that I’m a law-abiding individual.

“That’s, as I mentioned before, I’m not an illegal mercenary, you know?”

“…I know.”

Huh?

“…You’re the ‘Sole Mage,’ aren’t you?”

“I don’t really like that nickname.”

It sounded kind of edgy.

In fact, the sensibilities of people in this world were like that.

“…Shooting Star, Red Hound, Tech Master. They’re also your colleagues.”

…Well.

Listening to the nicknames of my other colleagues, being called the Sole Mage didn’t sound too bad.

From the top, these were the nicknames of Catherine, Andrea, and Drake. Frankly, they felt a bit childish.

If we’re talking about proper nicknames, something like Golden Hand or Smasher would be better.

That sounds cooler, doesn’t it?

Although there probably isn’t anyone with such a nickname.

“…It’s famous in our circles.”

“The others are indeed pretty famous.”

“…That’s not it. Um, I mean, you too, the Sole Mage.”

“?!”

Why me?

I don’t think I had anything that would make me famous.

“…Even if I try to kill you, you won’t die.”

“Ah.”

It wasn’t a good reason.

Nor was it a good evaluation.

Maybe it’s because they’re from the underworld, but their judgments seemed harsher than those of people from above.

I intended to change the subject and spoke to Julia.

“Ms. Julia—”

“Just Julia.”

“Julia.”

Yeah, titles aren’t that important.

Not like I corrected it right away because I was scared.

“…I’ve heard that you’re wanted. Is it okay for you to be here?”

This wasn’t me trying to avoid being with a wanted criminal.

It was out of genuine concern.

Julia raised the doll she was holding to my eye level.

A white rabbit doll.

Its glass eyes gleamed red, staring at me.

“…This is.”

With her other hand, Julia stretched and contracted the rabbit’s neck and body.

Whether it was made of cotton or not, the doll stretched and contracted according to her hand movements.

[Translator – Peptobismol]

“It distorts the surrounding signals… blocks facial recognition. And I was careful when coming here.”

[Information.]

Surprised.

Eve continued.

[After hacking the cameras, I confirm that there is a significant decrease in image quality around the doll due to generated noise.]

Really?

It’s just because it’s easy to get such things in the underworld.

Now that I think about it, there were many similar products.

So, she carries the rabbit doll around for that reason.

“…I just like the design.”

And she giggled slightly, indicating she liked the rabbit.

It was a sight that I wouldn’t have suspected if I hadn’t played the game.

This little kid, a wanted criminal listed by the NCPD? Ridiculous.

I would have scoffed and dismissed it.

I was glad that she didn’t seem in the mood to fight me.

I hoped today would end peacefully like this.

“But, um, rather than me”

“What?”

“ImARealMage is—”

“…Would you like to call me by my real name?”

It felt quite burdensome to hear my in game ID in real life.

Julia suddenly lowered the fork she was holding.

Perhaps she choked, she stopped eating the spaghetti and quickly drank from the glass of water beside her.

She really didn’t look like a villain.

“…Your, um, name.”

“Siwoon, it’s Siwoon. For your information, it’s my last name.”

“Um, Siwoon-nim.”

It felt strange to be addressed as “nim” by a wanted criminal.

“…I’ve heard that Siwoon-nim also has a bounty now?”

“Huh?”

It was natural for me to pause at Julia’s words.

She continued.

“…Siwoon-nim, you’ve become famous among the mercenaries in the underworld recently. It’s only been a few days, but… is your bounty higher than mine?”

Why would I be?

This is crazy talk.

There’s no reason for me to have a bounty on me from the mercenaries in the underworld.

I wanted to hear more detailed explanations.

But then.

The inside of the restaurant became noisy.

It seemed like a bunch of people were rushing into the restaurant at once.

The voices of the people around me murmured.

Something had definitely happened.

Their destination was none other than me.

“Found you, Golden Hands! We’ve been looking for you for so long!”

The timing was a bit amusing.

I had just found out about the bounty on my head, but before I could say anything, people armed with knives and guns stormed into the restaurant.

“You’ve been a pain to find, huh? What. Julia, why are you here?”

The gaze of the commanding man shifted from me to Julia sitting in front of me.

“…Hey.”

“Why are you here? I ignored my mission and left because I had work to do.”

The identity of the commanding man was unclear to me, but it seemed like he knew Julia.

“Aha. Having fun, huh. I guess you didn’t even know that the money bag was right in front of you.”

The commanding man scratched his throat with the gun he was holding.

Was that scar on his head from that?

It was obvious at a glance that his entire body had been modified with combat implants.

It was like the chromo psychos I’ve seen in past assignments or news.

Unlike me, who was speechless in the bewildering situation, Julia confidently spoke her mind.

She stuttered a bit when we were having a conversation earlier, but now that was nowhere to be found.

“It’s not like that.”

“What?”

“I didn’t not recognize him.”

The tense atmosphere inside the restaurant, which had started to relax slightly, tightened again like a stretched rubber band.

“…Then why aren’t you capturing him?”

“Because he’s my party member.”

“Then move aside.”

“That’s not possible either.”

The commanding man’s irritation seemed to spread to the tip of his head.

“…Hey. I can overlook you pointing a knife at my throat as a joke. But what’s this? This situation cannot be overlooked as a joke.”

“I’m not joking though?”

The commanding man gritted his teeth.

Julia’s hand was already moving toward the rabbit doll in her lap.

I just sat there quietly.

I didn’t understand what was going on.

In the meantime, I took a sip of the cola in front of me.

In any case, the cola was quite refreshing.

[Translator – Peptobismol]