A Sucker's Cure
It was the middle-aged man in the modified hanbok who had been standing at the clinic's entrance.
The elderly doctor gasped in surprise. "Kim-gan! What's gotten into you?"
Regardless of what the doctor said, the middle-aged man in the modified hanbok, Kim-gan, paid him no mind.
"There's no such thing as an AI vaccine. Don't let him scam you."
The man named Kim-gan shoved me out of the clinic and slammed the door shut.
A moment later, the old doctor's screeching voice echoed from inside. "You son of a bitch! Who do you think you are, ruining my chance with a sucker like that—!"
(●ˇ∀ˇ●) See? I told you it was a lie.
CC sent the message with an air of smug triumph.
"I knew that."
You were about to throw away a hundred and fifty points, though?
Ignoring CC, I stopped at a meat skewer stall right in front of the clinic.
I stared at the clinic, eating the skewers one by one.
Some time passed.
"Excuse me, sir. Mind paying before you eat any more?"
The stall owner stopped me as I reached for another skewer, politely asking for the bill. Just as I was pulling cash from my pocket, the clinic door swung open, and the middle-aged man named Kim-gan stepped out.
In his arms, he clutched a small cardboard box filled with personal belongings. It looked like he had just been fired.
"Give me all the skewers you have left."
"Huh? What? All of them?"
I paid for the ones I had eaten, bought every remaining skewer, packed them into a paper bag, and followed the man.
Without a word, I placed the bag of skewers right on top of his box.
"..."
The man stared at me, speechless.
"Thank you," I said.
Giving a brief nod, I turned around and walked out of the market.
I could feel his gaze lingering on my back as I walked away.
"Don't talk to me. I'm sorry."
The next day, the Longsword Goblin Senior left the cave after throwing those words over his shoulder.
The Handaxe Goblin Senior patted my shoulder consolingly.
"Try to understand him. You heard about the AI breach in Maetan before you joined, right? A low-rank Player came back infected and caused absolute chaos. That friend's wife... her legs were paralyzed because of it. She's still bedridden to this day."
Senior Songo clicked his tongue.
"That's why he absolutely loathes low-rank Players. Says they're doing things beyond their station... Hey, he didn't mean you, so don't take it to heart. I'll go talk to him."
Leaving me with those brief words of comfort, the Handaxe Goblin Senior hurried after Senior Janggo.
CC's message popped up in front of me.
Human relationships are so difficult.
"They say the hardest part of working life isn't the job itself, but the people."
I was about to trudge out of the cave behind my seniors.
📞 Incoming call from Kang Yeolchan.
It was Intra-Maetan's messenger system.
"Yeah, Yeolchan."
"Hyeong-nim! I hope you've been in perfect health!"
His deep, booming voice practically rattled the cave walls.
To think a voice like that belongs to a kid who barely just turned ten...
"My mom... I mean, the Guild Leader's orders! Please come to the guild house in Chungmuro by 19:30 today! We have a mission!"
"The Guild Leader?"
"Yes!"
"Ah, Yeolchan. Hold on a second."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim! Speak away!"
"Do you know anything about an AI virus?"
"An AI virus?"
Confronted with something he didn't know, his tone instantly reverted to that of a young child.
"There's a rumor that whenever Players connect to the internet, they bring some virus back into Intra-Maetan..."
"Ah! Hyeong-nim! That's a total lie! If a virus like that actually existed, my mo... the Guild Leader and I would've caught it first, since we're practically always on the internet!"
"Really? There's no such thing?"
"Yep! So you absolutely shouldn't get any 'vaccine' shots! It's a scam!"
(*°▽°*) lololol
CC's message vibrated in the corner of my vision.
"Got it. 19:30."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim! See you then!"
A mission. Maybe a change of pace would do me some good.
After finishing my shift, I headed to the Monolith Gate right on time.
The guard, recognizing my face, gave me a slight nod and a faint smile.
I flashed him a thumbs-up and stepped into the Monolith Gate.
That is such an old-man gesture.
"Quiet, you."
A moment later, I opened my eyes next to a building near Exit 4 of Chungmuro Station.
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I kept my head down and walked toward the guild house.
About Uncle Janggo... apparently, his wife used to work at Maetan's recycling factory.
"Hmm."
CC's messages floated in front of my eyes. Since I had no choice but to talk to myself to reply, I kept my answers as brief as possible.
But back then, they did an emergency shutdown of the factory to catch a Player infected by F. The safety measures were inadequate, so she ended up poisoned by Hexachloropentane, an organic solvent used in the factory. She probably inhaled the vapors or dust.
"Hexachlo... what?"
Hexachloropentane. It's a highly toxic solvent used for cleaning precision machinery. Inhaling it causes neurodegenerative diseases.
"Neurodegen... what?"
Sensory abnormalities, muscle weakness, nerve damage, loss of motor function... Left untreated, it can even make breathing impossible.
A terrifying disease.
If it was three years ago, even if she didn't feel it much back then, she probably struggles to even move by now. Since it's neurological, it would definitely affect her ability to do anything in Intra-Maetan too.
"How do you know all this?"
It was in the company newsletter.
"Company newsletter?"
Yes, the corporate paper.
"Maetan actually has something like that?!"
CC's message window expanded and contracted like a heavy sigh.
You can read it on Intra-Maetan. They put a lot of effort into writing it, you know. The reporters who write it would be so sad to hear you say that.
"But why aren't they treating her?"
Pardon?
"They know the name of the disease. Can't they just cure it?"
Maetan had managed to save even me, and I had been practically pickled in radiation. Surely they could cure some Hexachlo-whatever.
There's no cure. To be precise, Maetan doesn't have the recipe to manufacture it. It requires a chelating drug called Neosyntin-D. It removes toxins from the nervous system and promotes the recovery of damaged nerves.
"They don't have the recipe? Why? Hasn't it been researched?"
...In my opinion, Maetan just doesn't consider it a priority.
"What do you mean?"
CC shifted her message window around as if hesitating over her words.
Radiation treatments... are frequently needed. You remember Managing Director Kwon Biho, right?
"How could I forget? He was the one who wanted to recruit me to be a security commander."
He was a man who, in many ways, reminded me of my days in the military.
Managing Director Kwon Biho goes outside of Maetan often. If he gets exposed to radiation during those trips, he'll need treatment.
Ah. So that was it.
But... like I said, Hexachloropentane is a solvent. Specifically, one used in the recycling factory. Do you get what I'm saying?
Maetan was a corporation. They provided us with food and shelter, but at the end of the day, they were a business driven by profit.
The profit margin isn't there. Why would they pay a Player to go out and retrieve a cure for the lowest of the low?
I fell silent as I walked down the streets of Chungmuro. CC didn't send any more messages either.
After a brief silence, I arrived at the flower shop that served as the Sprout Guild House.
Taking a deep breath, I steeled my resolve. It was time to work. I had to push these distracting thoughts aside.
I pushed open the door to the flower shop and stepped inside.
"Hello!"
"Hyeong-nim, you're here!"
Standing right in the middle of the flower shop was a red-skinned goblin. Kang Yeolchan. His presence made the already cramped flower shop feel even smaller.
What's more, there was another massive figure of similar size standing beside him.
"A tiger?"
A man with the head of a tiger, wearing a black overcoat over a white hanbok, stood there. The fact that his beastman features were fully visible on the intranet meant he was also a Player.
"Hyeong-nim! Let me introduce you! This is our guild's Player, Uncle Daenyang-i!"
"Daenyang-i...?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Kwon-su. I look forward to working with you."
The tiger beastman stepped forward, offered his hand, and bowed politely.
Just then, I caught his reflection in the display window. It showed a rugged, muscular, middle-aged man with black hair dyed with yellow stripes. A long scar ran across his face.
"I'm Yoon Juhyuk. Nice to meet you."
"I've heard a lot about the legendary goblin. You're the one who saved Yeolchan."
Kim Kwon-su bowed once more. "Thank you for saving our guild's youngest."
"Ah, no, it was nothing..."
It was a level of extreme politeness rarely seen in Maetan. I found myself bowing back automatically.
"You two, that's enough. Come on up."
Yoo Hyeyeon appeared from the back passage of the flower shop.
We followed her up to the fourth floor.
The office wasn't particularly spacious, and with both Kang Yeolchan and Kim Kwon-su—two massive bulks—sitting on the sofa, the room felt completely packed. I ended up sitting directly across from Yoo Hyeyeon, who took the seat of honor.
"Now that introductions are out of the way, let's get straight to business."
Yoo Hyeyeon laid several photographs on the table. They showed men of various ages, ranging from middle-aged to elderly.
"This mission is a request from our guild member, Dae-nyang."
"I'll be in your care," said Kwon-su, also known as Dae-nyang, bowing his head.
Why Dae-nyang? Because he's a tiger? Like a big kitty?
CC sent a questioning message, but I ignored it and focused on Kim Kwon-su's explanation.
"I primarily collect data on relic items."
"Relics?"
"Yes. Cultural assets, if you will. The item you're wearing on your ear right now is actually something I found and gave to Yeolchan."
I touched the Earrings of Dueoksini hanging from my goblin ear. It was an indispensable accessory that granted the Strong Arm skill, compensating for the goblin's fragile physical strength.
"The internet usually operates under the same physical laws as reality, but occasionally, objects that bend those laws appear, like those earrings. We call them items. We don't fully understand what determines which abilities are granted to which objects yet, but historical relics have a particularly high chance of becoming items."
"So you're looking for relics to get items, Mr. Kwon-su?"
"You can just call me Dae-nyang. Everyone does. The items are a secondary goal; collecting the relics themselves is my primary objective."
Dae-nyang gently stroked his tiger chin.
"Finding relics in the real world is practically impossible now. The war destroyed all the museums, after all. My goal is to gather information on these relics from the internet and preserve at least the data for future generations."
"He says that, but in truth, he holds the most items out of all of us. He probably has plenty of items he hasn't even told us about."
"Hahaha." Dae-nyang's tiger face broke into an embarrassed grin as he laughed it off.
"Anyway, please continue with the mission briefing."
"The people in these photos are characters from an Event Zone I discovered." Dae-nyang tapped the photo of an elderly man with a sharp tiger claw.
"It's an Event Zone where an illegal auction of stolen goods is held at this politician's house in the dead of night. The other people in the photos are the auction participants."
"An illegal auction?"
"It's called an auction, but it's essentially a private transaction of black-market goods. It's a convenient excuse to move large sums of money, isn't it?"
Knowing nothing of politics, I didn't quite understand. If they needed money, couldn't they just hand it over without making up excuses?
"I tried every method imaginable to steal their goods. But the moment I broke into the house, the authorities were deployed instantly. As expected of a politician's residence, the security is ironclad."
The deployment of "authorities" meant the AI, F, would appear.
"After several trials and errors, I finally found a way to prevent the police from showing up." Dae-nyang grinned. "We raid them."
"Hehehe." "Fufu." At the word "raid," Yoo Hyeyeon and Kang Yeolchan began to chuckle ominously.
They call it a mission, but isn't this just a gang of robbers?