Chapter 40: Orphan Gang

Ras confronted Gingbaol about it, but the man initially denied everything. However, after continued questioning, he finally gave in and spoke.

“Huh? A gang?”

“N-No, no. Even if people call them a gang, they’re really just a group of orphans. Real gangs don’t exist in neighborhoods like this. You only find those in dangerous places like Putroom.”

He said it as though trying to calm Ras down, but it wasn’t especially reassuring. Maybe it was prejudice, but Ras remembered newspaper articles about homeless street orphans who pickpocketed or committed petty theft.

“No, why are kids like that living in a commercial building?”

From Ras’s perspective, it made no sense. If this were some dangerous slum, that would be one thing, but it wasn’t. The neighborhood was perfectly normal, mostly Beastmen, but still busy and populated.

But that was Earth-born Ras’s common sense.

“Then where do you think all the kids on the streets live? Those brats settle anywhere that looks vacant.”

“...”

It wasn’t something he had ever really thought about before. Perhaps because of the post-war baby boom, this world had an enormous number of children wandering the streets. And not all of them lived under the protection of families.

There were children begging, polishing shoes, or wearing filthy work uniforms while doing child labor. At first Ras found it unpleasant to see, but that was all. He had merely treated it as one of those uncomfortable sights unavoidable in an old-fashioned world.

But it wasn’t that simple. Ras now felt he truly understood this world a little better.

After arguing a bit longer without accomplishing anything, Ras finally left the real estate office while inwardly grinding his teeth and swearing he would repay Gingbaol for this someday.

Then he headed straight to the police station.

On the way there, Ras kept thinking about what Gingbaol had said regarding gangs. Not just the orphan group specifically.

Maybe it was an occupational disease, but he found himself wondering whether this could become good game material. Perhaps the fact he was currently developing a war simulation game also influenced his thoughts somewhat. It definitely felt like a darker concept, but even on Earth there had always been successful games centered around crime and criminals.

And not only strategy games either. Titles like Hitman and GTA existed too, so he felt it was worth seriously considering. Though perhaps because he watched too much YouTube in his previous life, things like Mafia City instinctively came to mind, and honestly that style wasn’t really his taste.

Thinking about such things gradually calmed him down. Before he realized it, he had already arrived at the police station.

It was an ordinary two-story stone building. But since Ras had never even visited a police station back on Earth, he still felt quite tense standing before it.

He hadn’t come to sue Gingbaol. Though he certainly wanted to. But realistically, there was no evidence, and if both Gingbaol and the building owner simply claimed ignorance, the matter would end there.

All Ras could regret now was not checking the originally locked metal door and failing to inspect the supposedly vacant upper floor during the renovation work. He had only focused on the office below.

Of course, until his anger faded, he intended to keep searching for ways to get back at them somehow.

“What brings you here?”

A muscular white policeman with a bald head and strangely swollen eyelids greeted Ras. The man felt oddly intimidating.

Unlike Korean police on Earth, the police in this world carried guns and had little hesitation about using them. Rather than public servants, they felt more like low-ranking officials who still possessed authority.

So even though the officer spoke politely at first, Ras couldn’t tell whether the man’s gaze from a head taller above him genuinely felt oppressive or if it was just his own imagination.

In any case, Ras explained the situation regarding the orphans upstairs and asked whether they could be removed.

The officer looked troubled for a moment before glancing around and quietly answering.

“Well, you can file a report, but completely driving them out will probably be difficult.”

Ras asked what he meant, and the officer lowered his voice as he explained.

Street children were apparently extremely sensitive and quick like cats, so by the time officers arrived, they had usually already escaped. He also explained that so many children had been getting arrested lately that the prisons were becoming overcrowded, making the authorities reluctant to arrest them in the first place.

“And when they come back afterward, they often retaliate against whoever they think reported them.”

“I see...”

The mention of retaliation bothered him somewhat. And after learning that the children were actually sent to prison rather than merely chased away like he had imagined from Earth’s perspective, Ras felt slightly uncomfortable and eventually left the station as well.

As he trudged back, Ras felt like he had gotten unbelievably unlucky. He even briefly considered simply moving again, but that felt unbearably unfair. He had done nothing wrong, and the renovation costs had been far too expensive.

Even if he possessed a lot of money now, that didn’t make the money worthless.

With the graphics card project in mind — and because he intended to pursue far more ambitions than merely making games in this world less advanced than Earth — Ras needed to conserve capital.

If this were a truly serious danger, he would move regardless of the losses. But in the end, they were only orphaned children.

At the moment, they weren’t even directly interfering with development. The situation only bothered Ras personally because he now knew what was above them, so he decided to keep trying reasonable methods first. If absolutely nothing worked, then he would consider harsher measures.

The problem was that he couldn’t think of any good methods right now.

So for the moment, Ras decided to simply talk to them personally with a lighter attitude. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Honestly, he doubted they would leave just because he asked, but perhaps he could at least gather some information about them.

Of course, he couldn’t go alone unarmed. Even if they were only orphaned children, if he tried driving them out, they might become emotional and attack him. So he looked for bodyguards, but couldn’t find any proper professional services.

At one point, his attention had been drawn to an advertisement for a “monster extermination company” in a magazine. But after investigating slightly, he discovered they weren’t mercenary or adventurer groups like those from fantasy novels.

They were closer to pest-control businesses dealing with creatures like Goblins and Ratmen that still stubbornly inhabited remote regions near human settlements.

In the end, what Ras thought of instead was a labor security company.

At a place that felt no different from Earth’s own labor security agencies, Ras hired two large Orc men named Dungke and Pazda as escorts before heading upstairs again.

“So you’re trying to kick us out?!”

“Why should we leave?!”

“You’re the ones who should get lost! We used to stay downstairs too!”

“You bad guy!”

And just as expected, negotiations failed. After awkwardly suggesting they move out, Ras ended up retreating downstairs again while enduring accusations shouted by the younger children.

The only things he learned were that the black-haired teenage boy appeared to be the leader, the number of orphans was larger than expected, and there were many extremely young children among them.

Ras became furious at their shameless attitude and briefly considered simply hiring the labor company to force them out. But when he seriously thought about it, something bothered him.

Right now, he was selling games to children, and in the future he planned to pursue various businesses as well. If word spread that he had used hired thugs to drive out poor orphans, it could create major problems.

Whether the children were genuinely pitiful or not didn’t actually matter. The yellow journalism in this world was insane enough to rival even Earth’s internet trash reporters. They would fabricate things out of nothing if necessary, so the only real solution was to avoid giving them any opportunity at all.

Besides, he simply didn’t want to use violent methods if possible. And thinking about it carefully, a few of those children might somehow succeed someday and eventually become his customers.

If nothing else, once they became adults and workers, even if they couldn’t afford computers, they might still enjoy arcade games.

In any case, after sending the Orc escorts away without results and turning back toward the office while lost in thought, Ras suddenly sensed something strange.

...What?

He quickly scanned the surroundings. Then, in a narrow alley, he spotted a girl with yellowish-brown hair staring directly at him. Her body was thin, but judging by her height, she looked to be in her mid-to-late teens.

Several thoughts instantly flashed through Ras’s mind.

Surveillance? Or don’t tell me they’re planning to attack now that the Orcs are gone?!

His heart dropped as he hurriedly searched the surroundings again, but he couldn’t ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spot any other children nearby.

Apparently the fierce hostility shown earlier by some of the children upstairs had made him unconsciously far more tense than necessary.

Once he realized he was simply overreacting, he felt both relieved and irritated at the same time. Thinking he might at least question her, Ras approached the girl, but her eyes widened in surprise and she instantly turned and ran away.

“Hey!”

He wanted to stop her, but the distance was too great and the girl moved surprisingly fast, forcing him to lower the hand he had instinctively reached out with. Ras stared at the place where she disappeared before sighing and returning upstairs to the office.

Before entering, Ras rubbed his face and carefully managed his expression. He didn’t want to drag this frustrating atmosphere into game development as well. And to avoid affecting development, he still hadn’t told the employees about the orphan gang situation.

If there were actual danger, he would naturally warn them. But since things hadn’t reached that point — and the noise problem had at least improved somewhat — he decided to leave it alone for now.

Ras greeted the employees with nods and returned to his seat. Honestly, he felt slightly self-conscious. No matter that he was the company president, Project War’s development was currently reaching its peak, yet he kept leaving the office repeatedly.

For now, I’ll just have to forget about it for a while.

Sitting before his computer, Ras sighed and pressed the power button. There might be troubling neighbors upstairs, but if he failed to focus properly, the game itself would suffer. If he had been working alone, he could simply pause everything until the orphan issue was resolved, but now he had an entire team depending on him.

For now, it seemed best to release Project War first and deal with the situation properly afterward during vacation time.

Fortunately, development itself continued smoothly without disruption. Including Ras, they now had three coders, and even the newcomer had gradually reached the point where he could contribute properly. As a result, assigned tasks no longer suffered major delays.

The graphics team went without saying. The synergy between the two artists was excellent, so even after Ras increased their workload, they still completed everything without any drop in quality.

The new employee Jenny was genuinely skilled.

At first, since she wasn’t familiar with exaggerated cartoon-like expressions, some of her early work felt slightly awkward. But that only lasted briefly. Whether because she had good instincts or because Pana taught her well, she adapted very quickly.

Ras briefly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠considered increasing the graphics team’s workload even further. But according to the schedule charts, there wasn’t actually any need to pressure them, and he worried constantly throwing extra work at people just because they performed well would eventually kill their motivation. So he decided against it.

As for Nebrania, she didn’t appear overwhelmingly busy, but she also wasn’t idle, and the results she brought in were perfectly acceptable, so Ras simply continued observing for now.

Aspa, who handled the story elements, also wasn’t slacking. Things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like worldbuilding and characters naturally had no upper limit when it came to polishing quality. So he continuously typed away at the keyboard, and even the events Ras occasionally requested from him weren’t simple tasks.

These “events” were a system added later during development. When a player’s faction fulfilled certain conditions, various events would occur. Some granted benefits, while others imposed penalties.

This system existed to prevent players from growing bored and to maintain difficulty even in the late game.