Chapter 10
Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Witch
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Cafe Basilissa is a spacious cafe with noticeably clean interiors compared to the state of the street.
The customers occupying seats appear, at a glance, like ordinary people sipping coffee and chatting...
‘Everyone’s hiding something.’
Most are armed or concealing their magic power. They’re all pros connected to Tudor.
A hulking man shoveling parfait at a table by the door spots me, grins, and says to the gloomy woman across from him.
“There’s another new nutjob today.”
“Yeah, Tudor’s gonna love this one.”
No need to pay attention to their petty jabs. There’s nothing to gain from fighting here.
When I show no reaction, they quickly lose interest.
That’s only natural. Anywhere else, a mask might draw eyes for a while, but not in this cafe.
Because there’s someone even more bizarre than me.
Take that guy at the counter taking orders!
His body is definitely human. A hot guy with a perfectly toned physique like a model or personal trainer.
His outfit’s sharp too. Crisp white dress shirt and a tight black apron, neatly worn.
But that head!
Attached to his head isn’t a human one—it’s a massive old-school CRT monitor.
And the monitor on his head is fully functional.
A huge single eye made of green dot graphics moves across the screen.
No way that eye has actual vision, but he’ll blink it or roll the eyeball to make eye contact with people now and then.
‘No mask beats that, no matter how weird.’
Unfamiliar folks mistake it for some getup, but it’s not—he really has a monitor for a head.
His name is Orb.
Get a little friendly, and you’ll hear it’s short for Object Head.
I waited for a customer who’d just ordered to find a seat and head off, then spoke to Orb.
“Came to see Tudor.”
I know where Tudor is. But skipping Orb and going straight there would piss her off, so this is unavoidable procedure.
Monitor-head twitches for a second, then rolls the eyeball in the giant eye graphic on his screen. Playing cute...?
Depending on how you act with Orb here, you can unlock various reactions and fun little events.
But I’ve played enough [Cthulhu World] story in-game. I’m fine. I need money now.
“Hey, Orb. Looking for work a wizard can do.”
Called by name, Orb flashes a big [!] on his monitor.
Then he speaks... wait, no mouth. Anyway, a weirdly choppy synthetic voice comes from his face area.
-Go. That. Way.
As he says “that way,” he points to a corner of the cafe.
An arrow [☞] pops up on his screen too.
In that direction, a space partially hidden by a few large potted plants.
Inside is a white sofa bed said to be made of monster hide—no one but Tudor can use it.
Tudor usually lounges there killing time.
Approaching the sofa bed, I see her as expected: half-reclined, reading some trashy novel.
She’s in a loose dress with dangling ornaments—not modern style, more like a medieval witch’s garb.
A tall pointed hat with a wide brim sits on the table beside the sofa.
She’s not just dressed like a witch.
Tudor is a witch. The original witch.
As I draw near, she tilts her pale face under her long red hair to look up at me.
A staff in her free hand would’ve fit perfectly, but instead of a staff, she holds an ornate long pipe.
“This thing’s not lit.”
She’s talking about the pipe. She noticed my gaze on it.
“I know.”
“Quite the... interesting taste?”
She means the mask. Tudor likes this stuff. That’s why she employs a guy like Orb.
As always, she doesn’t ask how I knew to come. Even lounging like that, she senses everything in the shop.
She already knows I talked to Orb—and that I knew his name from the start.
Tudor smiles slyly, sets her book down, and rises from the sofa bed. Her height... whoa, way taller than I thought.
Hard to tell in-game, but she’s a full head taller than me.
Not bulky or lanky, though. Tudor’s proportions are flawless from limbs to torso.
‘The in-game art was pretty, but seeing her in person... she’s got presence. Charm 20 vibes, huh.’
Not just pretty. Charm up to 18 is human territory, but 20 is straight-up magic.
Gorgeous looks, sure—but beyond human limits.
The impact is so strong...
[System: Exclusive trait ‘Abyssal Madness’ activates.]
It triggered to protect my mind. Wait, hold up. She’s stunning, but not a mythos being—does that even make sense?
“Cut the weird crap. I want an intro to jobs for wizards.”
Tudor strikes an exaggerated theatrical pose like she has no idea what I mean, then reels in the [Charm] spell.
She pulled this in-game sometimes.
“Quick on the uptake, aren’t you? And carrying something like that... first I’ve seen... Makes me curious just how much you’ve got.”
Tudor looks briefly surprised, then smiles and licks her lips. She gauged my magic power and likes it.
‘If she knew I’m suppressing most of it, she’d flip.’
My mana core holds a ridiculous amount I can barely contain.
I’ve bottled it up as much as possible, but from her savvy, she’s picked up that I’m hiding some.
“Fine, whatever. Plenty of jobs for a wizard like you. I’m Tudor. Name?”
“Kim Shin-hwa.”
“Hmm... well, names don’t matter anyway.”
Fixers don’t use real names. Most work’s in illegal territory. They use what’s called a fixer name—a nickname they swap if it gets hot.
So my real-sounding Kim Shin-hwa throws her off.
No ID anyway—who cares if it’s real or fake? Change it if it’s an issue.
For reference, my last martial artist character was Kim Shin-hwa 1788. If I’d named an Abyss-gazing wizard, it’d be Kim Shin-hwa 1789.
“Anyway, Kim Shin-hwa. It’s been ages since someone showed up unannounced and un-referred... gives me pause.”
Tudor taps her cheek with a finger, trailing off. She doesn’t fully trust me yet.
In-game, you’d get options and pick dialogue... now I have to wing it.
‘Just go with the one that got the best reaction?’
“Might as well get close quick.”
Meaning: Gimme good jobs fast. Before Tudor can respond, I add:
“If you’ve got a headache case, I’ll handle it right away. Like ones where fixers went in and died already.”
That gets her grinning like ‘Where’d this guy come from?’
“Fun tastes, powerhouse wizard... intriguing, sure. But can’t hand you big jobs off the bat. This industry runs on credit and trust, y’know?”
Almost word-for-word in-game.
She likes me, but this is the line for low level or no referral.
Didn’t expect prime gigs right away, so no regrets.
“Top priority’s proving you’re trustworthy. Skill’s third on the list.”
Unspoken second is ‘Be fun enough for Tudor.’
“Can’t stiff a wizard like you at the door, though. C’mon this way. We’ll build trust slow and get friendly.”
Smiling, Tudor parts a curtain by the wall.
Behind is a ‘Staff Only’ door—her office, she says, leading me in.
Huh, the office wasn’t shown in-game...
Normally, a close-up on Tudor pops here with a quest-accept window.
First thing catching the eye in Tudor’s office: the mahogany desk smack in the center.
Huge, like two desks fused, buried in a mess of papers and junk.
Cleaning’s Orb’s job.
But only the desk’s like that—she probably won’t let him touch it.
Tudor drags a chair from the corner and sits me down.
“Take a seat. You seem like you’ll show me something fun. I’ll cut you a sweet deal.”
As she finishes, papers fly from the desk clutter to land before me.
The contract’s full of boilerplate: no trespassing clauses, no meddling, secrecy etc.
Mostly formalities. Nothing to sweat.
“Done. Deal sealed. No clue how you knew to come, but good choice. Let’s get along.”
“Same here. And straight to business.”
“Knew you’d say that. Check this.”
Entry quest: bounty hunt, as expected. The papers she hands over detail a target.
“Bounty hunt, huh.”
“Like I said, no client-direct jobs till you prove trust.”
Bounties just need the catch delivered.
No client meet, and if I fail, send someone else.
Perfect test fodder—every broker starts newbies on these.
‘Alright. Contract done... made it this far.’
Under my control so far.
Which broker.
What contract.
But who Tudor assigns is random.
Makes sense outside game logic.
She’s always cycling fixers, so depending on when I show, remaining bounties vary.
In short: bounty gacha.
Difficulty depends on the draw. Hope it’s an easy one...
Photo attached to the papers: familiar face.
Man with a dragonfly tattoo under his eye, expression super hyped—like post-hallucinogen shot.
“Name’s Lee Chang-hyeok. Claims rocker or singer, but really just gigs bars occasionally—day job’s fixer or muscle for hire. Has a fixer name too. Victor, I think?”
Never met in person, of course. But often in-game.
Lee Chang-hyeok’s a dud pull in gacha terms.
As I frown at the papers, Tudor misreads it and grins like it’s hilarious.
“Yeah. Street-tough skills.”
“...No big issue.”
Can’t say I know him from game, so I fake-scan his specs and reply.
His abilities? Nothing special. To current me, just ‘Chang-hyeok trash-tier.’ The problems are two-fold.
“Holistic had him escorting research samples. Turns out it wasn’t some ordinary goods—smuggled artifact from the Outskirts. Ballsy guy ate it and bolted. That’s the bounty.”
Holistic’s a biotech firm making cancer drugs etc. Paju has their HQ and labs—including the one I escaped: [K-3675 Secret Research Lab].