Classic Game Maniacs (3)
Classic Game Maniacs (3)
Illegal mercenaries.
Just as the name suggests, it refers to mercenaries who primarily take on illegal jobs.
Truth be told, if I broadened my perspective a little, quite a few people who could be called illegal mercenaries were stationed even in ordinary neighborhoods.
If you just headed down to the lower levels—Chinatown, Little Shinjuku, or even Redwood—gang-affiliated illegal mercenaries were overflowing.
Come to think of it, the mercenary profession itself was like that.
When taking on requests and carrying out mercenary work, you didn't need a license like other professional jobs did.
The only things required were skill and a track record.
In this world, where countless vagrants throw themselves into the mercenary trade and die every single day,
the gap between an illegal mercenary and a regular mercenary wasn't as wide as one might assume.
So what exactly was an illegal request?
This was even simpler to explain than the last point.
A request that could harm the city.
To put it bluntly, if you failed to comply with the city's laws, it could be labeled an "illegal request."
If you took a request and didn't pay the mandated taxes, that also counted as an illegal request.
Was that why?
The standing of illegal requests in Neon City was quite low and their scope narrow.
There was another reason too.
It was because after "No Answer" seized control of Neon City's mercenary industry, they completely banned taking on illegal requests.
In truth, from what I knew, there were still plenty of people secretly exchanging requests under the table.
But regardless, once you got caught, you were expelled from No Answer and barred from receiving requests from any broker under their influence. So the number of people who risked accepting illegal requests had definitely shrunk compared to before.
But what kind of creatures were humans (and all other species)?
The way humans (and all other species) lived was this: if the path you wanted was blocked, you found a way around it—or forged a new one entirely.
Since I'd never actually taken on an illegal request myself,
I didn't know much about the details either.
But from what I'd roughly gathered, they had splintered into several different factions.
There were those who proposed creating secret sites through net space and exchanging requests there.
And there were also many who insisted on meeting only face-to-face in reality and taking requests from people they could trust, since the work carried high risk if their identities were exposed.
Eventually, as time passed, only one method was said to remain.
And so, in the end,
A certain "game" was born—
one that required the inconvenience of using old-fashioned input/output devices like monitors and keyboards,
possessed graphics and gameplay that interested parties couldn't comfortably enjoy,
wasn't a virtual reality game so the risk of actual damage from hacking was low,
and even guaranteed security because the server administrators had physically isolated its servers.
Nominally, it was a normal (or even above-average) game, so it was easy to avoid suspicion from anyone watching.
No data logs remained on the server, making it perfect for holding secret conversations—and supposedly ideal for soliciting something illegal.
If this story were true, then it wasn't strange at all that the game's playability was wrecked, with issues like having no max-level content.
...Hm.
So.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"......It's true, though."
I was dumbfounded.
4. Classic Game Enthusiasts (3)
I'd mentioned this once before, but if there was one thing that changed when the game became reality, it was the existence of "lore" I hadn't known about.
Now, it was normal for even a single NPC passing by on the street to have a concrete "story" generated for them.
But this was something I had never even considered.
I had no memory of hearing about it back when I played the game.
Ah, maybe I did hear it but just couldn't remember.
It had been roughly ten years since I'd played the game, after all.
Aside from the major characters and the main story, details didn't come back to me quickly.
It couldn't be helped.
But on the flip side, that meant I did remember things about the major characters.
An antagonistic NPC in the game.
A villain and wanted criminal with a fondness for bunny dolls.
Julia took a large mouthful of the tomato spaghetti I'd ordered for her. For reference, the tomato content listed on the menu was 0.0%.
She looked exactly like any ordinary girl her age, her cheeks stuffed full of food.
That wasn't the reality, though.
"......Hm, so what you're saying is."
There was this one "game" primarily used for receiving illegal requests,
and she said she had never seen anyone actually "hunting" in that game until she came across me. So she got curious about what kind of guy I was and asked to meet.
"Is that it?"
"......Yes."
It was shocking enough that a secret rivaling the deep net was hidden in a game I'd been enjoying,
but the fact that the user who had just been playing the game with me like normal turned out to be a notorious wanted criminal came as an even bigger shock.
I'd simply played a game that suited my tastes, but I had no idea it would leave such a deep impression on a famous wanted criminal.
I tried to prove my innocence and demonstrate my strong law-abiding spirit.
"The thing is, like I said earlier, I'm not an illegal mercenary, you know?"
"......I know."
Huh?
"...You're 'the Only Mage,' aren't you."
"I don't really like that nickname."
It sounded kind of chuunibyou.
Honestly, the sensibilities of the people in this world were all like that.
"...Shooting Star, Red Horn, Tech Master. You're also a colleague of these people."
......Hm.
Hearing the nicknames of the other colleagues, maybe the Only Mage wasn't so bad after all.
Those were the nicknames of Catherine, Andrea, and Drex, in that order. Honestly, they felt a bit childish.
If you asked me, a proper nickname should be something like Golden Hand or Smasher, don't you think?
That's way cooler.
Not that someone with a nickname like that would actually be John Ja, though.
"......You're famous on our side."
"Well, the other guys are pretty famous."
"......No, I mean, um. You too, Mage-nim."
"Me?"
Why me?
I wondered what there could possibly be to be famous about.
"......They say he won't die even if you try to kill him."
"Ah."
That wasn't a good reason.
Nor was it a good reputation.
As expected of people from the underworld, I guess.
Their assessments were more ruthless than those of the people above ground.
With the intention of changing the subject, I spoke to Julia.
"Miss Julia—"
"Just Julia."
"Julia."
Right, forms of address were important.
It wasn't that I chickened out and immediately corrected myself.
"...I understand you're currently a wanted criminal, but are you okay with being here?"
This also wasn't a remark I made because I didn't want to be around a wanted criminal.
I said it out of genuinely pure concern.
Julia lifted the doll she was holding up to my eye level.
A white rabbit doll.
Its reddish glass eyes sparkled toward me.
"...This, um, this is."
Julia grabbed the rabbit's ear with her other hand and stretched out the rabbit's neck and body with a shhiiik.
It seemed to be a cotton-stuffed doll; it stretched and shrank in sync with the movement of her hand.
"It distorts surrounding signals... and blocks facial recognition. And I was careful when I came here, too."
[Information.]
Startled me.
Eve continued speaking.
[As a result of hacking the cameras, I can confirm that the image quality near the doll drops sharply due to the generated noise.]
Oh yeah?
It was all because such things were easy to obtain in the underworld.
Now that I thought about it, there were a lot of similar products out there.
So that was why she was carrying around a rabbit doll.
"...I just like the design."
And she giggled quietly, saying she liked rabbits.
It was an appearance I wouldn't have been able to doubt at all if I hadn't played the game.
This little one was a wanted criminal with her name listed in the NCPD? Say something that makes sense.
I would've dismissed it just like that.
At least it was a relief that the atmosphere didn't seem like she was going to fight me.
I hoped it would end peacefully like this again today.
"But, um, more than me."
"What about it?"
"The real Beobsanim-nim is—"
"......Can you call me by my name?"
Hearing my game ID spoken aloud in reality
was incredibly embarrassing.
Julia suddenly put down the fork she was holding.
As if her throat had closed up, she stopped eating her spaghetti and hurriedly gulped down the glass of water beside her.
She really didn't look like a villain character.
"......Um, your name is."
"Si-un. Lee Si-un. For reference, Lee is the surname."
"Ah, um. Si-un-nim."
It felt strange being called "-nim" by a wanted criminal.
"......From what I know, Si-un-nim also has a bounty on his head?"
"Huh?"
It was only natural that my movements stopped at Julia's words.
She continued speaking.
"...You're famous among underworld mercenaries these days. I think it's been a few days now... your bounty might be higher than mine?"
Why me?
What kind of insane talk was this?
What possible reason could there be for underworld mercenaries to place a bounty on my head?
I wanted to hear a more detailed explanation.
But at that moment.
The inside of the restaurant grew noisy.
It seemed like multiple people were barging in all at once.
The murmuring voices of the people around us.
It was clear that something had happened.
Their destination was none other than me.
"There you are, you lump of gold Mage! Been looking for you for a while now!"
The timing was a bit funny.
I had just found out that there was a bounty on my head, and the moment the words were out, people armed with knives and guns came storming into the restaurant.
"You were a pain to track down, huh? What the—Julia, what are you doing here?"
The gaze of the leader, who had been doing all the talking, shifted toward Julia, who was sitting across from me.
"...Hi."
"What are you doing here? Said you had things to do, ignored the mission, and took off."
I didn't really know who the man was.
But they seemed to be acquainted with Julia.
"Agh. Slow on the uptake. Didn't even realize a moneybag was sitting right in front of you."
The leader scratched his temple with the pistol he was holding.
Was that how the scar on his head came to be?
Even at a quick glance, his entire body looked like it had been modified with combat implants.
It was cyberware on the level of the Chrome Psychos I had only ever seen during past requests or on the news.
Unlike me, who couldn't get a word out in the bewildering situation,
Julia resolutely spoke her mind.
She had stuttered a little when talking with me earlier, but now there was no trace of that anywhere.
"No, it's not."
"What did you say?"
"I said I didn't not notice."
The atmosphere inside the restaurant, which had seemed like it was about to ease, was strung taut with tension once more.
"...Then why aren't you grabbing him?"
"Can't. He's my party member."
"Then move aside."
"I can't do that either."
The leader's irritation was steadily mounting, rising to the top of his head.
"......Hey. I can let it slide as a joke if you point a knife at my throat. But this? This is a situation I can't just laugh off."
"Mine wasn't a joke either, though?"
The leader gritted his teeth.
Julia's hand had already moved toward the rabbit doll tucked in her bosom.
I just stayed still.
I didn't really understand what kind of situation this was.
For now, I took a sip of the cola sitting in front of me.
Anyway, the cola was refreshing.