Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Chapter 28: Human Hunt (4)
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The woman introduced herself as Aisa Gonzalez.
She went on at length about the circumstances that had forced her to sneak across the border.
“It wasn’t with any bad intentions, and I didn’t have a passport, so…”
“And, well, by the time we raided the plaza—that’s the base where they manufacture the drugs, about the size of a village or small town—the drugs had already crossed into the US, so I figured we had to stop them from spreading first…”
It was probably because she was conscious of Lily’s affiliation.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—Lily didn’t press her on the illegal entry.
Instead, she dug deeper into the drugs that had already made it to the US.
What effects they had, what symptoms appeared in cases of addiction, and beyond that, manufacturing methods, prices, even the number of cartels involved.
It was a more thorough and systematic interrogation than I’d expected.
For someone like me who’d only encountered drugs through the media, there were plenty of intriguing questions.
‘I’m curious, sure.’
Why she was asking about that stuff, and how they planned to track it down now that players were involved.
I had quite a few questions, but it felt too delicate for me to jump in right away.
This was a long-standing issue between the US and Mexico, after all.
So instead of butting in immediately, I decided to bide my time and wait.
In the meantime, I mulled over Aisa’s story.
“Um, well, by the time I learned about the drug, it was already flooding the black market in Mexico…”
“There was something familiar about the smell, so I got suspicious and tore apart a manufacturing site, and sure enough, it was made from monster blood.”
“And the manufacturing process is ridiculously simple. Mix it with cocaine, boil it, dry the hardened stuff, and grind it into powder. That’s it.”
“The downside… it becomes unusable pretty quickly? About two weeks later, it just turns into worthless black powder.”
“I personally checked seven plazas… most of them are near the border. We burned one of them.”
A drug made from monster blood: Cretol.
‘A portmanteau of “crazy” and “toll.”’
The problematic drug was already spreading rapidly across Mexico.
Just thinking that far made my head throb.
‘Drugs aren’t something you can easily eradicate.’
If it were, countries like the US, Mexico, Colombia, and El Salvador in Central and South America wouldn’t have suffered from the drug problem for so long.
It’s a war that won’t end as long as humanity exists.
The good news was that, at least for this incident, we could seal it off.
If we took out the players involved and killed all the monsters, they wouldn’t be able to source more raw materials.
‘We can put out the immediate fire.’
But conversely, that meant we could only handle the urgent blaze, not achieve a complete resolution.
Because once they could get monster blood, even ordinary people could manufacture Cretol.
‘…Holes opening up and monsters crossing over will definitely cause problems.’
Even without that, the system would keep recruiting more players.
There was no guarantee the new players wouldn’t pull the same stunt.
In the end, this required ongoing management.
What if I left that management to Aisa?
‘She’s a sniper, but… it wouldn’t hurt to have someone dedicated to South America.’
I’d originally planned to pick from the players in Club 249.
But out of nowhere, Aisa had emerged as a new candidate.
And her qualifications weren’t half bad.
‘She’s got the initiative to dive in and solve the problem herself, and she seems to hate drugs.’
On top of that, she’d prepared herself to endure killing people alone.
Tap, tap, tap.
With my arms crossed, I drummed my fingers on my bicep and analyzed Aisa objectively.
‘Honestly, her skills alone aren’t impressive.’
Just the fact that she dragged her feet and failed to take down the target before I arrived after the secondary explosion said it all.
Even so, after some deliberation, I concluded I wanted to recruit her.
The benefits far outweighed the drawbacks.
Because Aisa was intimately familiar with drugs, that specific element.
‘We can’t contact Lily Evans every time something like this pops up.’
Setting aside her skills, her knowledge and experience with the issue alone would be quite helpful.
There’s no rule saying I’d run into another player so well-versed in the drug trade ecology.
Once my thoughts reached that point, her lacking skills no longer seemed like a dealbreaker.
‘If her skills are deficient, I’ll raise her up to the level she needs to be.’
For now, pair her with a sniper who operates in a similar radius.
‘Tell him to train her a bit, and she won’t get beaten up out there.’
In exchange for a random box, the sniper wouldn’t refuse.
Decision made, I pondered how to approach Aisa.
‘Her personality seems straightforward.’
That was a significant factor in my decision to recruit her.
For an endless, drawn-out war, that kind of simplicity might be ideal.
So the approach I settled on was equally straightforward.
‘If I beat around the bush, she won’t get it.’
The moment Aisa finished talking with Lily, I sent her a friend request.
Aisa’s eyes widened in circles as she hesitated several times before accepting.
- Aisa: Why me…? Do you know me?
She sent a message that left me speechless.
‘Straightforward personality, but not quick on the uptake.’
If it were me, in an unusual situation, I’d first check for any changes in the environment.
Then connect the dots.
Yet here was Aisa, with three unfamiliar people suddenly by her side, not linking it to the abrupt friend add.
It meant my communication with her needed to be simple and direct.
Beat around the bush with her type, and it’d get tangled.
- K: The brown-haired white guy standing at your 3 o’clock is footing the bill.
“Gasp!”
Aisa clamped both hands over her mouth and turned to look at me.
‘Jeez…’
She was the kind of partner who made it hard to scheme behind her back.
Sure enough, Lily sensed something and glanced between me and Aisa.
“What’s going on?”
Of course, I just shrugged innocently at Lily’s question, playing dumb.
I wasn’t thrilled about giving her more information.
Mentioning the bounty mission was only the bare minimum to secure cooperation.
‘The ability to track exact locations, the rewards for each elimination, and the penalties for mission failure.’
No need to share that.
So I had to rein in Aisa, who was broadcasting our collusion with her body language.
- K: Act like you don’t know and ignore it. I don’t want Lily Evans’ side knowing about our conversation.
- Aisa: Got it!
No beating around the bush—I stated exactly what I wanted and even directed her actions.
Aisa promptly looked away from Lily, pretending nothing was amiss.
It wasn’t smooth acting; she looked stiff, like she was hiding something awkward.
But for someone as open-book as her, it’d have to do.
With both me and Aisa avoiding her gaze as if nothing was wrong, Lily gritted her teeth.
She’d clearly caught on that some secret exchange was happening beyond her sight.
But what could she do about it?
She had no way to peek into me and Aisa’s chat window.
‘It’s not like she can hack the game.’
Thinking about it now, the system’s community update might’ve been a smart move.
Rarely, I gave the system a generous nod as I continued the chat.
- K: Unlike regular missions, there’s a hidden mission that pops up for a select few players.
- Aisa: I’ve heard of it! Some people were bragging about it on the community.
As the name implied, hidden missions weren’t exactly secret.
Players who scored unique rewards inevitably boasted and flaunted their fortunes.
Thanks to that, she bought into the existence of the bounty mission right away.
Explaining the mission types wasn’t hard either.
- K: It might require killing hundreds. You up for it?
If Aisa refused, I’d have spilled info for nothing.
So I hid the exact mechanics, only described the tasks, and immediately asked if she’d join.
Minimizing the risk of rejection.
Even while managing that risk, though, I was half-convinced.
Aisa had thrown herself into a drug-related mess of her own accord, convinced she had to kill to stop it.
‘She definitely has a history with drugs, likely laced with grudges.’
- Aisa: I’ll do it.
Sure enough, her reply came without hesitation.
- K: You’ll handle Central and South America. Especially anything drug-related—deal with it as quietly and cleanly as possible.
The region was rife with countries that were hotbeds for other drug cartels.
Since I was recruiting her for her drug expertise, she’d know the lay of the land better than me.
At the end of that firm conclusion, I added Aisa’s code name to my third recruitment mission.
- Aisa: But…
Her follow-up question made me pause briefly.
- Aisa: What about non-players? Just regular people?
- Aisa: I mean, the drug cartel guys.
Of course, the hesitation was fleeting. I’d already decided the answer when I saved Lee Jun-mo.
- K: No. If you touch civilians, I’ll intervene personally to stop you.
Just like when I got involved with Yoon Ji-hye and Lee Jun-mo.
- K: Let non-players handle their own problems.
Just as we players handle the messes players make.
The domains had to remain strictly separated.
Otherwise, it’d become all too natural for players to stand above civilians.
After stating my stance so firmly, a sullen reply came after a long delay.
- Aisa: Okay…
Only then did I enter Aisa’s code name into the recruitment mission.
[Bounty Hunter Recruitment Progress 0.1%]
[Bounty Hunter Recruitment Progress 0.2%]
….
No need to waste time here while Aisa’s recruitment processed.
“Sniper.”
“Yeah?”
“Can you handle the remaining targets in the US alone?”
“Of course.”
When I declared I’d dump the US targets on him, the sniper accepted readily.
“Then I’ll head straight to Mexico.”
For now, I’d clean up Mexico personally, and leave the US targets to the sniper.
After that, assign the sniper as Aisa’s dedicated partner, and have them cover the Americas together.
With future plans sorted step by step, I turned to Aisa and said,
“Aisa-ssi, you said you know the locations manufacturing Cretol, right? Mind guiding us?”
“Uh, uh-huh…”
Aisa started toward me reflexively, then froze, glancing at Lily.
I turned to Lily and said,
“This time, let her go nicely. I showed sincerity by contacting you ahead out of consideration for your side, so return the favor and consider our situation.”
“…This is a one-time thing.”
Meaning she wouldn’t let Aisa cross the border illegally so easily next time.
I had no intention of pushing back on that.
The US was the sniper’s home turf anyway, so Aisa wouldn’t need to come this far.
‘Unless the sniper sneaks her across.’
As I turned my back on Lily, Aisa scurried after me and asked,
“W-We’re crossing the border just like this?”
“Yes. Let’s get going.”
That dawn, the US reported a war breaking out between drug cartels.
Mexico followed with urgent news of successive cartel clashes causing massive damage.
In the process, Aisa and I burned down six drug manufacturing plazas.
All within a mere 52 hours.