Chapter 31
Chapter 31
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Something Feels Off (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A sense that something was terribly wrong washed over me.
It was like drawing a shape, only to find the ends wouldn't meet.
I hurriedly retraced my memories, trying to recall the details of the original story, which were slowly growing hazy.
‘How did the early part of the original story go again?’
I started by laying out the original plot chronologically.
In my memory, the protagonist of *Fixer*'s first episode was Alice.
It was the story of how she, a police academy candidate, somehow ended up working for the Fixer agency.
After that, following stories about various supporting characters, including Alice’s sister Lily, came the very episode where the cast of regulars began to expand.
The Nemesis Party Terror Incident.
It was an act of violence intended to expose the secret behind Nemesis's new product.
Of course, even though it was called a "terror incident," it wasn't so serious that people were dying left and right with a flood of casualties.
It was more like a brawl breaking out in the special VIP banquet hall, resulting in a few dozen security robots getting smashed.
Considering the Night of Blood in the original story produced countless victims and nearly killed the protagonist...
...this incident was a fairly common occurrence in Nighthaven.
‘If I think about the timeline here…’
The flow of this episode went something like this.
First, Raven and Alice, having received an invitation from Nemesis, enter the hotel where the party is being held.
Second, inside the hotel, they run into a girl they vaguely know who is wandering around suspiciously.
Third, it turns out the girl is the younger sister of the incident's mastermind, and she commissions Raven to stop her brother from carrying out the attack.
And finally, the protagonists discover the reason for the attack is his childhood friend being held captive by Nemesis. They then help him shatter the corporation's suspicious plot.
‘It should be about time… no, according to the original story, we should have met the client before we ran into Lexi.’
Did I remember something wrong?
Or did something get seriously twisted along the way?
Whatever the case, if things continued like this, it would be a huge problem.
If the client never showed up, the Fixer agency would miss out on recruiting a brilliant hacker and mage.
‘Could he pull it off without the protagonists' help? No, that’s impossible. Forget the security robots; Lexi alone would finish him.’
I thought of Lexi, the woman in the bikini with the skull eyepatch I'd just met.
At first glance, she might seem like a simple exhibitionist, but she was a Triple Number Fixer.
A powerhouse acknowledged as possessing considerable skill in this world.
Even Alice would have a tough time, and at a minimum, it would take Raven getting serious to face her.
It was certain he couldn't fight her without the help of the main characters.
‘Where did it all go wrong…? No, it’s ridiculous to even think about it this way. The Night of Blood happening earlier must have messed something up. In that case, what I need to think about now is… how to set things right.’
But as I tried to come up with a solution, my thoughts grew more and more tangled.
I even started to wonder if I could fix this at all.
Ugh, this is why I hated getting involved with the protagonists.
Getting caught up in their incidents is one thing, but now I’ve put a hole in the wheel that would have rolled smoothly toward a happy ending without me.
…Should I have just left that vampire alone in the back alley?
No, I didn't really want to do that.
If I hadn't seen it at all, maybe. But having seen it with my own two eyes, I couldn't just let it happen.
An innocent victim was about to be created, and I had the power to stop it. How could I stand by and do nothing?
So, even if I could turn back time, I would have done the same thing.
Was it inevitable? Then there was no reason to regret it.
‘I guess I have to find the client.’
Okay. My thoughts are organized.
I'll find the client, the third member's younger sister, somewhere in this hotel.
Then I’ll get her to make contact with Raven, creating a reason for them to get involved in the incident.
After the incident is over, he’ll join the Fixer agency through this connection, and that’ll be that.
From then on, even if I leave them alone, they'll automatically steer themselves toward a happy ending.
‘*Phew*, okay. I’ll just patch things up this one time. After that, I really won’t do anything. I won’t interfere with the original story anymore, and once my part-time job is over, I’ll quietly leave the agency.’
As I made this vow, I briefly imagined my future at the agency.
Corporate bounties, being sacrificed to a rampaging artifact, a large-scale monster attack, targeted by a serial killer, a fateful encounter from the war days, a massive corporate war, a declaration of war from the Metahuman Liberation Army, an ambush by a government assassination squad, a surprise attack by dimensional invaders…
Ah, yeah, the stuff that comes after is way beyond my pay grade.
It felt wrong. Knowing everything and still planning to slip away by myself.
But I'm just a part-timer. Surely, that can be forgiven, right?
“Huh? What’s up? Need the restroom? Want me to go with you?”
“…”
“Alice, let her go to the restroom by herself. Take your time. Just don’t get lost.”
“…!”
I told Alice and Raven, who were watching the opening ceremony with bored expressions, that I was going to the restroom and slipped out of the banquet hall.
Once I was a good distance from the entrance, I broke into a run, heading in the complete opposite direction of the restrooms.
‘A little girl with braided green hair. I have to find her quickly, before the attack begins.’
About one hour until the attack.
There wasn't much time.
*
“*Phew*… that was refreshing. W-what the. Who are you—!”
“Stun.”
“Aargh!”
*Bzzzt!*
A brilliant blue current leaped from a man's glove, silencing the guard in a single blow.
The inscription on the glove was a spell that looked like little more than a scribble at first glance.
But contained within was the essence of modern magic, which interpreted magic through contemporary mathematics and programming.
It was a kind of pseudo-modern magic, specialized in forgoing the intense power of old magic in favor of drawing maximum efficiency from very little mana.
“My apologies. Excuse me for a moment.”
The man apologized to the unconscious guard, then stripped off his clothes and changed into the security uniform.
He hid the guard in a bathroom stall to avoid discovery and walked out as if nothing had happened.
According to his research, the guards' shifts changed every hour.
That meant he had to finish all his preparations within the next hour before starting his operation.
Was it impossible? No, it wasn't.
It was certainly difficult, but for him, with every move mapped out in his head, it was more than possible.
‘I only have one chance. I have to get Reine back in this one shot.’
*Grit.*
The man who had taken the guard uniform, David, clenched his teeth.
The memory of his precious childhood friend, who had disappeared six months ago, made his anger boil.
‘Nemesis…!’
An orphan from the underworld, a half-bear beastman with no magical talent whatsoever.
Yet, with his exceptional intuition and unique inspiration, David had become a scholarship student at Oculia, one of the world's most prestigious universities.
He had a childhood friend, Reine, who had been his emotional support since they were young.
-David. Did you get in another fight? You’re not even strong. Why do you do such foolish things?
-Those guys were making fun of Reine. They called her a whore who only gets by on her looks.
-Hey, you should just ignore nonsense like that. It’s more of a waste for you, who’s going to be someone great, to get hurt.
-…I can’t become someone like that. What does “great” even mean? What do I have to do to become great?
-Um… a p-professor? Ahaha, actually, I don’t really know either…
-A professor… is it? Then someday, when I really become a professor, I promise I’ll make you happy, Reine.
-Huh? R-really? Well, that would be great for me. It’ll be hard, but do your best!
*Someday, when I become someone truly great like a professor, I will definitely make her happy.*
His grand dream, born from a childish thought in a time when he knew little of the world, was ultimately never fulfilled.
While David was at university striving to become a professor, someone who had noticed the special blood flowing through Reine's veins kidnapped her without a trace.
Naturally, when he heard the news, he was enraged.
The only reason a disposable back-alley thug had become a brilliant student acknowledged by all was because of Reine.
-Brother! I heard you quit university?! W-what’s going on?
-Reine is gone. Until I find her, I cannot leisurely attend a place like a university.
-R-Reine is…?
-You won’t hear from me for a while. Goodbye.
-Wait! Brother! Wait for me!
So, he immediately dropped out of school and used all the money he had earned and the knowledge he had gained at university to relentlessly hunt for any trace of Reine.
And after about six months, he discovered that the illness she suffered from and the group that needed it was Nemesis.
David then formulated a plan to take advantage of a rare opportunity when Reine would be brought outside, aiming to rescue her and bring down Nemesis.
‘*Phew*, calm down. Reine must still be alive. The Hexahemia Syndrome she suffers from is an extremely rare disease. So she’s definitely not in immediate danger of dying. I know that, but…’
He tried to control his emotions by clinging to rational thought, but he just couldn't quell his rage.
But perhaps that was only natural.
To David, Reine was like a mother, an older sister, and a lover all in one.
She was a presence just as precious to him as his actual younger sister, Sabrina.
And she was kidnapped while he was away, possibly suffering a terrible fate?
Even for someone as rational as he was, it was impossible to contain his anger.
‘…Let’s go over the plan again. The party taking place on floors 32 to 34 is just a diversion. The real event is the VIP party seven floors above, on the 41st floor.’
What David had discovered by hacking Nemesis was a special briefing for hidden VIPs.
They planned to reveal that the prosthetic arms usable by metahumans were made with Hexahemia serum, a substance created from blood that reacts to mana, and use this to attract new investors.
Of course, Nemesis could already mass-produce the serum by cloning Reine's, but since the serum was essentially living blood, it had the problem of losing its efficacy over time.
The cloned serum, in particular, had a significantly shorter duration and reduced efficacy compared to the original, possessing only about thirty percent of its power.
In the end, Nemesis was planning unprecedented large-scale human experiments to find a second and third Reine, all to secure a more potent and stable serum.
‘Once they move to that stage, Reine's life can't be guaranteed. In other words, this might be my one and only chance. I must succeed.’
*Ding.*
As he was reviewing his plan, the elevator stopped in front of him.
And he realized. Once he stepped into this elevator, there would be no turning back.
Everything could go wrong, and he could end up rotting in prison for the rest of his life.
Nemesis was a major corporation experiencing rapid growth, while he was just a pathetic half-bear beastman with no powerful connections.
But what did that matter?
The scariest thing in this world wasn't rotting in prison for life, but living with the lifelong regret of not taking a hand you could have grasped out of fear.
Even if he died, he would have no regrets.
Just as David solidified his resolve and was about to step into the elevator, a familiar voice called out from behind him.
“You idiot brother!”
“…Sabrina.”
David turned to see a small girl with the same green hair as him.
Sabrina Grayroad. His one and only younger sister, who shared his blood and name.
“Why are you here? It’s dangerous if you get involved. Go home, now.”
David pulled his security cap down low, his voice gruff as he told her to leave.
He didn't know how she had followed him here, but he didn't want her getting caught up in what he was about to do.
“And what about you? What are you trying to do?! Something reckless, isn’t it? For Reine!”
“That’s right. Are you planning to stop me?”
“Ugh… But it’s impossible! How can you possibly fight Nemesis all by yourself?! This is a suicide mission! Reine wouldn't want this either!”
A suicide mission. Something she wouldn't want.
Hearing Sabrina's words, David closed his eyes for a moment.
He tried to act rationally, but he couldn't suppress the emotions boiling deep inside him.
Thus, David shouted, the suppressed rage finally bursting forth.
“…Enough! I’m not doing this because I can! I’m doing it because I have to!”
“Brother! Brother!”
“Go home. I will return with Reine.”
With those words, David took a step forward and entered the elevator.
Sabrina rushed forward to stop him, but the elevator doors closed mercilessly in her face.
The ship had sailed.
Realizing she could no longer stop David, tears welled up in her eyes.
“What do I do… What can I do…”
Sabrina despaired at the flow of fate, which she was powerless to change.
What could she, a mere ten-year-old, possibly do?
Even if she wanted to ask for help, there was no one who would lend a hand to Sabrina.
In fact, she had learned of his plan from the data David left behind and had run all over the place looking for a Fixer to stop him.
But every adult Sabrina met had coldly rejected her vague, unprofitable request, which lacked crucial details.
‘…I really can’t do anything.’
Sabrina sank to the floor, clenching her fists in helplessness as tears streamed down her face.
It was a tragic turn of events.
If only a certain agency hadn't closed early to search for a ghost, Sabrina might have met an unbelievable man who would take a job for a single coin.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that, in this moment, a twisted fate had abandoned her.
David's plan will fail, and everything will come to naught. So whispered fate.
The young lamb prays for a miracle. With no other options, she can only wait and hope desperately.
But sometimes, a miracle reaches out to the pitiful young lamb first.
“…”
“H-Hyaaah! W-what the—!”
Someone dropped down from the ceiling in front of Sabrina.
It was Yuria, dressed in a child's suit, who had been holding her breath and watching the situation unfold.
‘So, this is where I start fixing things?’
The arrival of a master clockmaker, here to set the broken gears back in place.