A World Only for You (2)
The pain lasted only a moment. People around me stared in shock, but the second I dusted myself off and stood up like nothing had happened, they lost interest just as quickly.
Act natural. Act natural.
Honestly, it was a little humiliating. Of all places, it had to be a busy main street with people walking by.
Anyway, this wasn't the time to dwell on that.
Confirmation that the assimilation target's ego has been damaged. Yeah, that's definitely what it said.
And right along with the word "recovery," the assimilation rate had dropped straight to zero percent.
Judging by the circumstances, Kamiya Ren's willpower had been stronger than mine, so the system had forcibly suppressed Ren's ego before I got swallowed whole.
No, wait. Calling it an "ego" feels a little off. It's less like the two of us are separate and more like Ren's personality got mixed evenly into my mind.
The ratio of that mixed personality was basically the assimilation rate. Even at zero percent, Ren's memories were still sitting in my head.
I hadn't accounted for nearly getting my mind overwritten like this, so it was a relief the system had recovered me on its own.
Don't tell me this recovery kicks in not just when I enter a manga, but whenever I take a mental attack too? Even in the real world?
That would be completely broken. It'd basically mean immunity to psychic attacks.
Among Hunters, mental-type abilities had a nasty reputation.
Hallucinations, brainwashing, memory tampering—get hit by one of those and you might end up killing yourself, or turning on your own teammates.
That was why the Administration kept a separate registry for mental-type Awakened.
And if the system restored me from every single one of those abilities?
I'd become the natural predator of every mental-type Awakened out there. They didn't get much of a physical boost to begin with.
I don't get physical bonuses either, sure—but I've got other ways to keep getting stronger. I can earn skills.
Of course, that was still just a theory. I had zero intention of taking a mental attack on purpose just to test it.
So what point in the story is this, anyway?
In the original, it opened with Misaki tutoring. She'd said she was heading out for a lesson earlier, so the timing was probably roughly the same as the start.
First things first—I'd go over what I could figure out right now, one piece at a time.
Ren's Awakened ability is physical enhancement. Roughly on par with me at Level 5.
Kamiya Ren was a psychopathic mercenary who'd take any job if the money was right. Combat and killing were his specialties.
He took contracts through a fixer named Decalon, and between his perfect success rate and his sadistic streak, he'd earned himself the nickname "the Murderer."
None of that had been spelled out in detail in the original, but now that I was Ren, it was just old memory.
Maybe it's because the assimilation rate is low, but there's a pretty strong disconnect between the memories and my own sense of self. Hard to believe I slaughtered people that ruthlessly. Well—not that I was the one who did it.
Bzzzt.
My phone vibrated briefly in my pocket.
A text?
Figuring it was a new contract, I opened it.
"……."
I read the message, then shoved the phone back into my pocket.
It was a full mercenary summons from Decalon. Today, 3:00 p.m. Assemble at the Lounge.
One hour from now.
No idea what this is about, but I should go. That's the only way I'll find out what's happening.
From this point on, I wasn't Kamiya Ren. I was Ray, the Murderer.
That was the alias he used in the mercenary world.
The Lounge. That was the name of the pub Decalon ran.
It only catered to mercenaries and clients, so it sat somewhere remote enough that ordinary civilians would never stumble across it.
I headed down into the basement of an abandoned building in the slums. A big guy in sunglasses stood up from a chair.
"Call sign?"
"Ray."
The big guy nodded and opened the door.
No further ID check. As the doorman, he already had every mercenary's face memorized.
The moment I stepped inside, the soft strains of jazz and the smell of liquor brushed my nose.
At a glance, it looked like an ordinary pub.
A few people sat alone along the long bar, nursing their drinks. Dartboards and old whiskey bottles lined the walls.
From a corner came the occasional crack of billiard balls colliding.
But this place is extremely dangerous.
Every hand wrapped around a glass was thick with calluses and scars, and weapons of every kind rode at hips and ankles.
Everyone in here was Awakened.
"……."
For a split second, eyes locked onto me. I could feel them glancing my way.
Ray the Murderer. Neither they nor I had a title worth celebrating.
Then a heavyset man with dreadlocks came stomping out through the door behind the bar, making the floor shudder under his weight.
"Alright, alright—looks like everyone's here!"
Decalon. The contract broker. Mercenaries preferred the title "fixer."
He planted himself center stage and slowly swept his gaze over the gathered mercenaries.
"Guess that's what happens when you only deal over the phone—plenty of new faces. Let's start with introductions."
He spread both arms and grinned with practiced charm.
"Decalon. Fixer, as you all know. This is probably the first time I've ever pulled every single one of you into the same room."
The murmuring Lounge went quiet. Decalon nodded, clearly pleased.
"Obviously I didn't drag you all here for a little bonding and a party. You people are busy. Waste your time and who knows what happens to a guy in a back alley, right?"
A few mercenaries snorted with laughter. Sensing the mood loosen, Decalon raised a single finger.
"Straight to the point—today's job is a little special. Someone's looking to hire everyone in this room."
"……Everyone here? All the Awakened?"
Someone asked, and Decalon nodded.
"Advance payment is ten million yen a head."
Glasses hit tabletops all around the room. Decalon smirked and kept going.
"Success bonus is one billion yen per person."
"……."
The Lounge froze solid. For most mercenaries, that was more money than they'd ever see swinging a blade for a lifetime.
"You serious?"
"What kind of job pays that kind of cash?"
"Ha—who the hell in this world hands out money like that?"
As the mercenaries started talking over each other, Decalon extended a hand toward the back.
"Figures none of you believe me. In that case…… why don't you explain it yourself."
Click.
The inner door opened again.
A middle-aged man in a black suit walked out slowly, flanked by two attendants.
Nobody else seemed to recognize him, but I'd read the original, so I knew exactly who he was.
The man stopped quietly in front of the platform and spoke in a calm, even voice.
"A pleasure to meet you all. I am Kujo, underboss of Orca."
At the word "Orca," some of the mercenaries sucked in a breath.
Orca was Japan's largest criminal syndicate. It was also the organization that hunted Misaki in the original story.
Kujo set a document folder on the table.
"What I'm asking of you is simple."
A photograph appeared on the screen.
A massive research facility nestled in the mountains, its location marked in detail on a satellite map.
"Raid this facility and secure the research data and the test subjects. Decalon-san mentioned a success bonus of one billion yen per person, but depending on the condition of the materials and subjects, Orca is prepared to pay additional compensation."
The mercenaries murmured among themselves. On the surface, it sounded like a straightforward extraction job. Some of them were already grinning, figuring they'd hit the jackpot.
But I knew what this contract really was.
That lab belongs to a rival organization running illegal experiments on Awakened.
Humanity had always wanted to control the things it couldn't understand. The power of the Awakened was no exception.
If anyone ever figured out the conditions for Awakening, they could mass-produce Awakened at will.
And that's not even the whole story.
Orca's real goal wasn't just the data.
Once they seized the lab, they planned to turn every mercenary gathered in this room into fresh test subjects.
In the original, Ren took the job and ended up helping Misaki when she fell into danger, but……
Why wait that long? I'll just stop the whole thing before it ever starts.
I let Kujo's words wash past one ear and stood up from my seat.
"The test subjects must not be harmed under any circumstan—hm?"
Kujo tilted his head at the sight of me suddenly getting up to leave.
"Decalon-san. Who is that gentleman?"
"A mercenary called Ray. He's always been a law unto himself. Just ignore him. Half the time he storms out like this and still shows up for the job."
Decalon and Kujo's voices faded behind me.
I ignored the stares clinging to my back and walked out of the Lounge.
Once I'd left the slums and reached a street with a decent amount of foot traffic, I took a deep breath.
"Whew. Those guys are terrifying."
Rifles propped against walls, faces that looked ready to kill—I'd thought I was going to die of fright.
Anyway, no time for that. I called Misaki. The ringing didn't last long.
"Hm? Ren? What's up?"
"Just curious about something. You done with tutoring?"
Thankfully, Misaki seemed fine.
Well, of course—she only got into real danger after Orca took the lab.
I still had plenty of time. Then Misaki let out a sigh.
"Ugh, I haven't even started yet."
"……Why not?"
A sudden bad feeling prickled through me. Like I was missing something.
"I can't get ahold of him. He won't pick up, won't read my texts. Maybe he slept in? Seriously, for a retake student his daily routine is a total mess."
Retake student. The instant I heard those words, a memory flashed through my mind like lightning.
Why had Misaki ended up being hunted by Orca in the original?
"I've been waiting alone at the café for thirty minutes. At this point I can just leave, right?"
Wait. Don't tell me……
The original's plot. Ren's own memories. They locked together like puzzle pieces, and one possibility snapped into place in my head.
We're already past the original's starting point……?
I bit my lip. No time to stand around.
"Misaki. Let's meet up and talk. The usual café where you tutor, right?"
"Huh? Y-yeah, it is, but—all of a sudden? Hello? Ren?"
I shoved the phone into my pocket and broke into a full sprint.