Chapter 49
Chapter 49
8. Hunter Alliance -1
[Last Will | (Hunter1) | No fucking way]
: I came into a stage to grind dungeons and some fucking lunatics are killing all the natives
I get that taking food and stuff is fair since we're the ones saving their world, but right now they're slaughtering every native who resists and putting collars on the rest and shoving them into pens like livestock⋯⋯
Who the fuck are these guys??
I'd heard stories about psycho bastards using natives as toys, but seeing it for real is making me lose my mind
I'm hiding for now because if they spot me I think they'll fuck me up too, what do I do
└ (Hunter 2) : Want me to help? (troubled)
└└ (Hunter 1) : wait wtf how did you do the emoji?
└└ (Hunter 1) : I'd appreciate the help;
└└ (Hunter 2) : Send coordinates (salute)
[Noah Won: If it's not urgent, make some time for me]
[Noah Won : Elijah?]
[Noah Won : Is something wrong?]
[Noah Won : If I did something wrong, I'd appreciate it if you'd at least say something]
[Noah Won : If it's an emergency, just type anything]
I glared at the Status Window with no reply and drew a deep breath through my teeth.
"⋯⋯Haaaah."
This was bleak.
First, there was no doubt that something had happened to Elijah.
Because at this point, Elijah had no reason to cut me off. And if she were going to, it would've been more profitable to cut me off after getting the 『Glass Sword』 interpretation from me. So I figured there was a high probability she'd gotten caught up in some kind of incident.
And that incident had to be serious. There was a chance Elijah had lost consciousness or fallen into a state close to it.
Because no matter how urgent things were, not being able to send a single chat was strange. Especially since Elijah was skilled enough with the Status Window to send emojis, wasn't she?
If it were her, she'd be able to send a message even while being pursued by someone. She would've sent a rescue request long ago saying "Help me, Noah."
Which meant, conversely⋯⋯ she was in a crisis severe enough that she couldn't even send a rescue request. My heart was growing anxious. I felt restless for the first time in a while.
If someone asked whether we were close, I'd say no. There was far more I didn't know about Elijah. She was an unpredictable type, which made it even more so.
I guess you could say she had a childlike innocence. Or rather, she was a blank slate, which made her hard to read.
But I did have one personal belief.
No one who plays tank is a bad person. Tanks have a high probability of being caring, big-hearted people of character. Like me. So⋯⋯.
'Hey, Noah. Will you be that kind to someone born in the lowest place, too?'
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
⋯⋯Which meant she was a connection too valuable to lose like this.
Also, Elijah was a crucial pillar of my promotion ceremony. At this point, I couldn't find talent like her anywhere. So even if it took some time, tracking her movements wasn't a waste.
Fortunately, Elijah was still alive. There was a way to check whether she was alive.
[Noah Won : 1]
Ding!
It sent normally.
Messages can't be sent to the deceased in the first place. So as long as I could send messages like this, it meant she was alive.
Let's move on.
So how the hell was I supposed to find Elijah? This was where it got frustrating.
The number of stages was close to infinite, and the number of hunters using the Community was by no means small. Just looking at the number of posts, how many were there? Setting out to find someone here with zero information was no different from finding a needle in a sand dune.
If I could just get my hands on some small clue, I could follow that thread⋯⋯.
I had a suspicion. That maybe the Hunter Alliance had done something to Elijah.
I scrolled all the way up through my chat history with Elijah and pulled up the past records.
[Elijah: I made it to the Hunter Alliance V ^-^ V]
[Elijah : In membership consultation right now]
[Noah Won: Hey]
[Elijah: If I learn any inside info, I'll share it with you (wink)]
I'd once advised her not to join the Hunter Alliance if she could help it, telling her they squeezed credits out of newbies both in the open and in the shadows.
Elijah, with her contrarian streak, had gone and joined anyway. After that, Elijah occasionally sent me inside information about the Hunter Alliance, but none of it was particularly useful.
That the Alliance had an overall pyramid structure, and that their motto was gathering resources from all over to push hunters with potential.
That the Hunter Alliance was divided into two major factions, and the infighting between them was pretty fierce. That was about it. It wasn't that deep.
Thinking about the Hunter Alliance bastards I'd encountered, it was practically an established fact that this group was hiding darker, more secretive things. But Elijah hadn't reached that far. That was only natural since she'd joined less than a month ago.
I'd also repeatedly told her to contact me immediately if she found out anything dangerous.
My reason was telling me the chances she'd clashed with the Hunter Alliance were low, and that she was more likely to have gotten tangled up in some other incident. But.
My emotions were whispering to me that since something shitty had happened to me, it had to be the Hunter Alliance's fault.
However, whether it was the Hunter Alliance's doing or not, the fact remained that I had no way to track the missing Elijah. But I couldn't just sit here doing nothing⋯⋯ let's do something, anything.
First, I sent messages around to everyone I knew.
[Noah Won : ⋯⋯So that's the situation. If you know anything, please contact me, Sohye.]
[Kim Sohye : Yes, I'll ask the hunters I've gotten to know recently too, and I'll contact you right away if I learn anything.]
[Kim Sohye : Your friend is definitely alive, Noah. Hang in there⋯⋯!]
[Noah Won : Thank you.]
Sohye didn't know anything. That was only natural since she'd just started taking her first steps as a System hunter. I added that she didn't need to overdo it looking into things, then moved on to the next person.
[Noah Won : Sergios]
[Silver-Traced Spear : Busy]
This bastard didn't even listen.
I suppressed my irritation and explained the situation. Sergios was silent for a while, then replied just when I was starting to think I'd sent it to this asshole for nothing.
[Silver-Traced Spear : None of the people I know have seen her]
[Silver-Traced Spear : If I run into her, I'll let you know]
So he'd asked around. Sure, he had dozens of rough edges, but looking at it this way, he was a properly decent person. I left a thank-you message.
[Noah Won : Thanks.]
There was no reply.
Beyond that, I sent messages to the hunters I'd connected with through secondhand bartering and the ones I'd crossed paths with once or twice, asking around without exception. Almost all of them were dead ends, but⋯⋯.
I managed to get a lead from an unexpected person.
It was from the Saintess I'd connected with for holy water trading.
[Andersen : I havent herd anything]
[Noah Won : Yes, thank you.]
[Andersen : I know a place worth asking]
[Noah Won : Excuse me?]
[Noah Won : Really?]
[Noah Won : Where is it?]
[Andersen : 34FR]
[Noah Won : It's urgent]
[Andersen : Be quiet]
[Andersen : I have to type from the start]
[Andersen : 34FR298DE]
After what felt like an eternity, she sent me the coordinates to some stage. She'd probably been fighting with the keyboard for ages, typing out the coordinates with hunt-and-peck.
[Andersen : Im telling you becuz you traded well with me]
[Noah Won : What is this place?]
[Andersen : Neutral City]
Those four letters didn't explain anything at all, but if I asked for an explanation at this glacial chat speed, it'd take half a day to get any meaningful information. It would probably be much faster to go in and find out for myself.
I left the Saintess a thank-you and immediately moved to the coordinates.
"Move."
Flaaash——!!
My vision was engulfed in pure white light. Once the sensation of being sucked somewhere subsided, I felt the solid ground beneath my feet. Then the light that had been limiting my vision faded away.
And what spread out before my eyes was⋯⋯.
Murmur, murmur.
"I'll sell you stage coordinates where you can grind repeat hunts for a mere 3,000 Credits!"
"You're selling a Hidden Piece? The bastards looking for one of those number over a full airship, and I've never once seen a single bastard who actually found one. If you're gonna scam people, make it believable. Get the hell out of here?!"
"I'm telling you, I'll pay anyone who finds me just one root of Doll Snow Ginseng! With this many people around, how can not a single one of you have seen it?!"
Future people, barbarians, murim martial artists, agents in suits, mages, medieval knights, and more.
It was a bustling city that looked like a tutorial expanded into a city, with hunters gathered from various worlds all mixed together.
I did some digging.
I'd once created a small community where credit delinquents like me could gather and barter. But thinking about it⋯⋯ that wasn't an idea only I could come up with.
Actually, it'd be strange if it didn't exist. Because the System was designed so hunters could be self-sufficient through the Shop without interacting with each other. But ultimately, it didn't go beyond the Shop's scope.
Services⋯⋯ things like buying someone's labor were impossible through the Shop alone. And for very rare items, you'd want to verify them face-to-face before trading. But that required a space.
The Neutral City was a zone created out of that necessity.
A land of hunters, built by countless hunters who pioneered some dungeon stage, refined it, built a city, and steadily maintained it── a place that only hunters with some experience under their belts could enter, quietly, through connections.
I understood why the Saintess had recommended this place. Here, there might be someone who had a way to track the missing Elijah, or who knew information about her whereabouts.
Conveniently, this Neutral City had plenty of people-finding services.
Whether it was signs hung on buildings or placards posted in front of shacks, you could frequently see offers to track and search for people.
But how should I put it⋯⋯.
"No, I approached first and was about to close the deal, so why are you butting in and causing trouble?!"
"How can I stand by when you're slashing prices like that? Come, come, unlike that wicked man over there, I sell with a clear conscience. My shop is very close by, so why don't you come this way and take a look?"
The atmosphere flowing through this city felt familiar. I felt like I'd experienced it somewhere before. Specifically, before the Gate Incident even broke out.
With that uneasy sense of déjà vu, I made contact with one of the searchers. I picked someone who at least looked seasoned. It was a person who looked like a mage wearing leather greaves, and the way they strolled through the city seemed quite leisurely.
My reasoning was that someone who showed signs of having stayed here a long time would have done this kind of people-finding work many times, so they'd be good at it.
"Looking for someone, you say?"
"Yes."
"Heh heh, you've come to the right place. At a glance, you don't look like a hunter from a civilization with developed magic. Non-mages have a hard time with search and reconnaissance, after all. Have you looked into the credits?"
"I intend to pay in goods."
"Hm."
The mage seemed to ponder for a moment, then nodded. But it was only a gesture; he didn't seem to actually be thinking about it.
"Then we'll have to get an appraisal first. I know an appraiser, so let's head there. We'll see the price range and decide."
"How much is the commission fee?"
"Well, that⋯⋯ depends on who you're looking for and how. Let's appraise the goods first, and I'll work as hard as they're worth."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
Ah.
Right, I remembered where I'd felt this déjà vu before.
Back in high school. I'd stopped by an electronics market to try to get a laptop. I'd heard that pounding the pavement at the electronics market was a little cheaper than buying online, so I'd forced myself into the adventure to save every penny I could.
Because it was precious money I'd saved up one or two coins at a time running a small service business inside the school.
I didn't need anything fancy, so I'd intended to get a low-end model that could just run the internet. But I⋯⋯ ended up blowing a fortune there and buying garbage.
If I'd acted according to my temper, I wouldn't have caved to that kind of hard sell, but at the time I was an idol trainee. If I caused trouble, I'd be kicked out on the spot, so I had no choice but to take it. It's still a bitter memory that shows up in my dreams from time to time.
This was exactly the same atmosphere. A battlefield where the ones getting scammed were the ones at fault, and rookies couldn't survive.
I obediently followed behind the mage. He walked into a secluded back alley, and once we'd reached a spot with few people around, he dropped the act without even trying to hide it. Greed was practically dripping from his eyes.
"Now, show me the goods. Here, this is the appraiser I mentioned."
"Heyyy, boss, you brought another one? You got it. I'm the appraiser, and I'll give you a real good price on the appraisal. I don't know what item it is, but take it out."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
But there was a big difference between the high school Noah Won who'd roamed the electronics market basement and the current hunter Noah Won. Mainly in the physical strength department.
On the off chance they really were generous people, I'd hand over a decent item and see how they responded. And if they tried to stab me in the back, I'd rough them up a bit and take what I wanted, and that would be the end of⋯⋯.
Shiiing──
An ominous sound rang out. I thought those two were about to start robbing me in earnest, but the sound didn't come from them. It came from beyond them.
I urgently shouted at the sound of a blade being drawn from behind them.
"Duck!"
"D-duck, what?"
"Honestly, are you planning to draw attention like that and run off—"
Shhk.
A short cutting sound rang out, and the two-man team that had been trying to scam me had their heads cut off. Thud, roll roll roll. With a mechanical sound, the two severed heads rolled across the ground.
"Honestly⋯⋯ why am I listening to all this one by one? What a waste of time."
Click.
The boy who'd beheaded the two from behind sheathed his longsword and waved at me.
"We meet for the second time, Mentor Noah Won. Ah⋯⋯ since you said I wasn't qualified to receive a hero's teachings, should I call you Hunter instead of Mentor?"
It was the black-haired male high schooler 『Da』 from the second tutorial, the one who'd possessed six skills.