Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Character Encyclopedia
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The original plan had been just that.
As I'd predicted, I'd cut ties with the factory that wasn't showing up anymore.
With customers trickling in to buy just one item at a time, I could hold out for nearly three months like this anyway.
Then, I'd snag exactly one sheet of blue tissue paper.
It seemed like a flawless plan—detailed to perfection, with no loose ends.
But the mounting confusion was enough to make me forget a few key facts.
"Where the hell is that blue tissue?"
Of course, I knew I'd sold it.
The problem was who had bought it.
I knew the gender, appearance, and occupation.
But crucial details like the name or address? Zero.
My brain buzzed for a second, but who am I?
A man who could breeze past a trial like this.
Still, to leap over it, I'd need a few supplies.
A laptop?
First up: an electronic marvel, the pinnacle of modern civilization.
Naturally, I could make one.
"Uh... is it gonna be crazy expensive?"
Why would you assume that?
"Well, the components are complicated, and the originals aren't cheap."
From my perspective, human gadgets all looked pretty much the same.
Though making peripherals like a mouse would chew through some resources.
"Okay. What about Wi-Fi?"
The second requirement: Wi-Fi.
Sorry, but I couldn't broadcast signals from my body.
"Figured as much?"
No need to worry, though.
I could vault over a hurdle like this with ease.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "World's Hottest Guy... customer! Your Americano's ready!"
"Got it!"
I'd headed to a café.
Not because it had any special powers—just the only place I could think of with free Wi-Fi.
The Tale Shop seemed to chase that vintage vibe, so no Wi-Fi, not even electricity.
That was why I'd ordered the laptop.
If this were cyberpunk, some dude in a glowing LED headset would pop up with "Hacker incoming" and dig up the intel. But this wasn't that world, and I didn't have the skills.
Instead, I'd tap into the authority of this Tale-dominated world.
I sipped my coffee, endured the boredom of the OS install, then fired up the internet.
My typing speed—honed by countless online games—got me to my target site without wasting a single second.
A brief loading screen later, the site's name appeared: Neomu Wiki.
A knockoff of that popular info hub everyone used.
The kind of fake site you'd normally never touch, but today, it was about to be a huge help.
Someone might wonder: Do wikis really have detailed info on random reporters?
Even in a Tale world, that'd be a stretch.
But that's where the Tale world made it possible.
I typed a question into the search bar—not a specific name.
- Who was the reporter I met recently?
Result: No search results.
I typed the same question again.
Still: No search results.
Anyone with real grit doesn't fold at a little door-in-the-face treatment.
I searched the same question once more.
- Who was the reporter I met recently?
No search results.
I was about to hammer it out for the tenth time—proving there's no tree that won't fall after ten strikes—when something weird happened on the site.
The No search results faded away, replaced by the name Han Aram.
I hovered the cursor over it, and it jittered like it was screaming don't click.
I timed it perfectly and left-clicked.
Click.
The air shifted in that instant.
The cozy café aroma vanished, replaced by a chill wind that irritably grazed my cheek from who-knows-where.
No other customers around. No part-timer either.
This space—this world—held only me now.
"So... now what?"
Digging deeper could spell trouble, but if I wanted, I could bail back to the real world right away.
I needed to push on, which was a minor hassle I could handle.
If anything, having no one around to peek at my searches made it more convenient.
Info on this site wasn't exactly meant for public eyes.
Like she was some A-list celeb, details on Han Aram spilled out in a neat list.
ID photo, name, age—even her full life story.
The Tale's name: Character Encyclopedia.
True to its name, it dished out infinite info on any "person."
If you wanted, you could uncover minute details on figures from thousands of years ago. Insanely powerful—but overuse made escaping harder and harder.
I scrolled down slowly.
The photo matched the reporter I was after.
"Han Aram, huh..."
Rang a vague bell somewhere.
Address acquired, at least.
But I had to be thorough.
I shoved my pesky ethics aside and clicked the life story section.
Ten thousand—no, hundreds of millions—of data points flooded my vision.
Han Aram's life, itemized down to the second.
People deserve privacy, so normally you'd skim. I jumped straight to the recent stuff.
"..."
I'd half-expected it, but the history had changed.
Whatever. I just needed the tissue's trail.
First, the factory owner had snatched it.
Looks like she secretly pocketed a sheet and regained her memories.
Then, she raided the owner alongside some Tale Management Bureau contact she'd run into.
"Ooh..."
Gutsier than I thought.
The tissue ended up with that Bureau contact, which meant...
"Damn."
Why the hell was it with the New Tale Investigation Squad?
No clue why she hadn't looped in the HQ chief or anyone else, but of all the groups, it had to be the one I least wanted to cross.
"Ha... nothing for it."
Just sneak in and grab the tissue.
I closed the site.
But the space didn't snap back.
At a glance, the site looked like a massive personal info leak, but leaks almost never happened.
You had to pay the toll to use it.
A price for daring to read others' secrets without permission.
The base cost: suspended animation.
How much you read determined the duration.
But if that was it, it wouldn't deserve the name "Tale."
This world had one other living thing besides me: the Hunter.
The more info you slurped, the easier it tracked you down.
Average folks binged without a clue and ended up dead here.
Me? I'd been restrained. No issue.
"Maybe two hours."
Might as well nap.
I shoved tables together into a makeshift bed and flopped down.
My body, spoiled by the Shop's fluffy bed lately, griped at the discomfort, but I ignored it and shut my eyes.
How much time passed? A faint noise pierced my sleep.
Grrraaawr—
"Mm... Mom, five more minutes..."
Grraaaawwl—
"Ah... Mom."
Hold up.
'Grraaaawwl'?
My mom doesn't growl like some beast.
I slowly lifted my eyelids, and a shape swam into view.
What the—
My bleary pupils darted around, struggling to focus.
And what they locked onto was...
"Fuck, why are you here?"
Right outside the café: a grotesque hybrid of wolf head and human body, sniffing around awkwardly.
The Hunter.
But how?
By my math, this was impossible.
Hunters always spawned in a different "country" from me.
They were fast—faster than I'd imagined.
But unless it had my exact position, it couldn't zero in this quick.
Not even an hour had passed.
Only explanation: I'd overused the Character Encyclopedia before. Which was bullshit.
Grrraaawr—
Didn't matter right now.
The Hunter was still searching, but it'd spot me any second.
Separate from its insane base strength: even if you killed it, it'd respawn at a random spot.
After that, a pinpoint-aware Hunter would run me down in under ten minutes.
"Shit."
This just got way too annoying.
This place felt like another dimension—no connecting to the Shop, key or no key.
How many rounds could I win against it?
Hunter never tired. I would, eventually.
It was almost here.
Better not wait for it to find me first.
Pssshk—
A tentacle speared through the Hunter's unguarded philtrum.
Instant kill via ambush.
"Huuuuh..."
The first one's always easy. Now the real fun begins.