Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Who is He?
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The interior of the club "Mobius," operated by the Hakuga-gumi, was eerily quiet and pitch black.
One of Bansho Takemaru's underlings had flipped the breaker, cutting off all light sources completely. It was so dark you couldn't see an inch in front of your face.
But thanks to some treatment that had granted me abilities on par with the Winter Soldier, I felt no discomfort whatsoever in the darkness.
Clunk!
I opened each door along the corridor one by one, checking inside personally.
"Eek...!!"
"Ah, looks like not here either."
Deep inside a secret room, a man and woman in leather straps straight out of an SM club were huddled together in terror.
The surroundings were shrouded in total darkness, but they couldn't have missed the sound of the door opening.
The woman, with an X-shaped strip of tape right over the center of her chest, cried out in a trembling voice.
"A-Are you here to rescue us?"
Unfortunately, I was on the red team right now.
I pulled out my pistol to check their personal info, then just awkwardly scratched my head instead.
"Nah. You two have a good time."
"We'll give you as much money as you want..."
Thud.
I shut the door as is, and the corridor fell quiet again.
That should cover everywhere...
"Eh... empty, totally empty."
[What's got you like that?]
A puzzled voice from the cat came through the terminal in my other hand.
My fingers were still dangling with bits of flesh hanging off, so the screen was smeared in blood, but it didn't hinder the voice call much.
"No chance of collecting repair fees for the building."
[...Were you seriously looking for that?]
"Gotta grab what I can."
Then again, this club was just one of the Hakuga-gumi's money-makers.
Not a proper hideout.
If it were, I couldn't have gotten inside this easily.
'They wouldn't stash bundles of cash in a club run for civilians.'
Still, I checked just in case.
And sure enough.
Only customers who hadn't escaped in time and gang members hiding while pissing themselves.
I wiped the bloodied terminal screen roughly on my clothes, then let out a lament at how it got even redder.
"Sigh... coming all this way for unpaid labor."
Forgetting this was a game world, it didn't make sense.
Dungeons give rewards proportional to the challenge—that's the rule.
"Whatever. Time to head back."
[Confirmed.]
"Still waiting at the entrance?"
[Yes. But a crowd of tourists has gathered in the meantime, so slipping out unnoticed will be tough.]
"How many we talking?"
[Hmm...]
Earlier, I'd asked the cat to block people trying to come down into the club.
A crowd at the entrance was expected.
[A ridiculous number.]
The cat, pondering for a moment, soon sent me a few photos.
[As you can see from the photos, there are even a few recon drones buzzing around now.]
"Recon drones?"
[Probably cyber web streamers hunting for content.]
People are the same everywhere.
"And that last photo's pretty dynamic."
[This whole area's Hakuga-gumi turf, so they keep coming no matter how many we chase off. No one's brought armor-piercing rounds or heavy weapons yet, so we're holding for now...]
"Got it. I'll head out soon."
This wasn't some rundown old-town street with no customers—it was a new-town street packed with tourists here for illicit thrills.
It'd been a good while since I entered the club, so attention was inevitable.
'What to do...'
If I just walked out like this, my face might be plastered all over [Area 49 Temporary Bulletin Board] by tomorrow.
[Or you could just hide your face simply.]
"You... ah, you put on a balaclava."
[Got a few handy. If needed, I'll come down the stairs.]
...How'd you get balaclavas?
Anyway.
I pondered for a bit.
'Balaclava, huh...'
When my head was hot earlier, I hadn't even thought about it.
Didn't worry about surveillance cams entering the club either.
But showing my bare face to that many people felt iffy.
With the breaker off, cams weren't running now anyway...
'Just wipe the CCTV data and we're good.'
Conveniently, I had a high-explosive grenade of just the right yield in my pocket.
Anything short of kilos of explosives wouldn't collapse the foundation, even underground.
"Alright, decided."
[If it's a hassle, I can chase everyone at the entrance away.]
"Nah, that's fine. Oh, and leave a message with Michael for me about the surveillance data here."
[Understood.]
If Troy lived at our grocery store like that homeless guy, it'd be convenient...
Come to think of it, could Nova handle that?
Ask later.
For now, ask Michael.
I started walking again in the darkness.
'Pretty sure there were some party masks in that room earlier...'
The chaotic entrance of "Mobius," swarming with people.
A recon drone hovered at the top of the building, filming below.
[Hello! Your space idol, ■■■ here! ...Hey, fuck. Who's jamming my signal at this golden timing?]
A cyber web broadcaster.
Streamers like her had come down to Area 49 hunting incidents today too.
Chats flew up rapidly under the cyber web feed streamed from the drone.
The broadcaster yelled in a rough voice.
[No, it's pissing me off!! Yeah. And whoever's spamming controversy on my Codex wiki live, cut it out or I'll track your coords and perma-ban you.]
The recon drone began descending slowly.
[Anyway! Today's special content: live observation of a shootout!]
[It's fine here! And for my worried viewers, I'll just film from afar with this recon drone I got on 12-month installments, so no worries!]
The "Mobius" sign appeared on the cyber web broadcast screen.
[Heard it's called chrome junkie too, but ■■■— fuck. Cut it out... Anyway, they say it's a club run by some gang. Could be personal grudge!]
The recon drone finally captured the 'masked man' blocking the entrance.
[Look at that! Super suspicious guy blocking the entrance! So probably not chrome junkie. To me, it looks like— Oh, someone's coming out!]
A figure drenched head to toe in blood strolled casually out of the club.
Amazingly unharmed and walking fine.
[Whoa, run over by a truck or what... those bones? Did some corp develop zombie virus while I wasn't looking? What stock to buy? Tell me quick it's urgent.]
Then, the recon drone's feed shook violently.
Like something wrong with the body, it lost balance and plummeted.
[What the— wind or what?! Who's telling me to land the drone!! Signal was shaky already, whoa, it's falling!]
The drone hit the ground.
Hearing it, the 'blood-soaked man' started walking toward the crashed drone.
[Uh oh...? No. Why's he coming this way. Mom taught me not to pick up stuff off the ground carelessly— ...Wait, what's he covered in?]
The streamer's voice trembled awkwardly.
Mic busted on impact too—the man in the 'round mask' seemed oblivious to any sound.
He picked up the drone and gestured a question to the approaching balaclava guy behind him.
Probably explaining it was live-streaming.
[Of course mic breaks now fuck... Please let go of my drone. Still tons of payments left.]
And then.
Abel Anderson, who inexplicably picked up the fallen drone, stared straight into the camera lens.
"This lens here's the camera, right?"
"Yes."
"Got something I wanna try. When else would I?"
His attitude was casual, but the blood-soaked clothes and mask gave off an indescribable intimidation.
"Planning to announce here that you killed the Hakuga-gumi boss?"
"Huh? Nah, not that. No need to say the obvious."
Precious few in Area 49 didn't know the Hakuga-gumi name.
That infamous gang.
The chat exploded into chaos.
But Abel couldn't see the stream chat, so he blurted out the joke that popped into his head.
Pressing the mask right up to the lens.
"Ahem, Batman, take off the mask and turn yourself in to the police right now. If you don't..."
No one in this world got the joke.
Once the drone regained control and rose slowly, Hakuga-gumi members surrounding the two filled the screen.
[W-What was that? Take off mask reveal identity, who to?]
But.
All chats froze at Abel Anderson's cannon-like launch.
A simple kick.
But its power.
The struck gang member flew several meters into the air.
That single short chat spoke for everyone.
Not even a fight—a massacre.
It didn't take long for all the Hakuga-gumi members to hit the ground.
"So what was that bat guy thing?"
"...He's the silent watcher, the vigilant guardian. The Dark Knight."
"......Huh?"
It was a story only I knew now.
......
To not forget myself.
To keep remembering the original world.
That casual joke on my lips.
Only I knew the truth behind it.
A massive screen shatters in one go.
Kaboom!!!
The man in filthy hobo clothes—Marcus Vogel, once a contract merc for a megacorp—smashed the street TV display.
"Th-This voice..."
He was being hunted by the megacorp now and shouldn't draw eyes, but Marcus couldn't contain his rage at the 'masked man's' voice on screen.
The shop owner rushed out at the broken display, racking a shotgun.
"...Fuckin' hobo, if you're junked up go sleep it off nice!"
"......"
"Get lost before I blast you—"
Crack.
The shop owner's head spun 360 degrees.
His cheap cybernetic prosthetic, jury-rigged, had crap sensory calibration, often burning his veins with pain.
That rage didn't discriminate friend or foe.
Implant neuralgia meltdown.
Commonly called chrome junkie.
But Marcus Vogel, with his crystal-clear grudge, stared at the shattered TV with bloodshot eyes instead of rampaging.
"Ah, still in... Area 49, huh. Heh, hehehe."
Moments later.
A madman's laughter echoed through the whole alley.