Since It's Unpredictable (1)
Since It's Unpredictable (1)
Contrary to my expectations, nothing happened to me.
I'd heard there was a bounty on my head, so I'd been preparing thoroughly in my own way.
Yet these past few days,
nothing happened at all.
I put aside the fact that Bill, whose face made my blood boil every time I saw him, kept coming to find me.
Please just stop coming to see me now.... It had become so routine it didn't even register anymore.
That was it.
It was just a continuation of ordinary daily life.
I did wonder if maybe Eve had used some method (usually illegal) to preemptively block enemies from coming to me, but.
[I deny that. I answer that, as of the current time, not a single hostile entity has come to our home.]
"You sound a little disappointed?"
[Denial.]
It wasn't that either.
But to say that Catherine, who lived next door, had gone out first and dealt with any threats...
The house next door had been empty for days now.
Usually in cases like this, it meant she was out handling a private request,
so I wasn't too worried about that part.
"......In the end, I have to ask someone who knows."
[I affirm.]
It was also, honestly, the fastest solution.
It was much better than agonizing over it alone.
I activated my vision interface.
A blue window appeared before my eyes.
The message I wanted to send....
I could just roughly write it.
Recipient: 'White Rabbit'
- Sorry for suddenly sending a message.
- If you have time, could you tell me about that bounty matter we talked about last time?
- Checking and replyingㅈ (typing....)
A call suddenly came in.
Who is it, Catherine?
Contrary to my expectation, the floating name was 'White Rabbit', Julia.
Either her timing was perfect,
or she called the moment she checked the message.
I couldn't tell the difference at that speed.
I answered the call for now.
Julia's innocent face appeared through a clean hologram.
Her blue hair fluttered elegantly.
[......Hello.]
"I was writing you a message, did you see it?"
[...Yes.]
She could have just replied by message.
The fact that she went out of her way to call showed she was surprisingly diligent.
"Ah, it came up when we met last time. That there was a bounty placed on me."
[...Yes, about that, well—.]
As Julia's words continued, an unknown man's agonized scream rang out from the other end of the line.
[Kwaaaaaaah!!]
"?"
What the hell.
[......Ah, I'm sorry. I'm in the middle of something right now....]
"......What are you doing right now?"
[......Please, you can speak comfortably.]
No, I'm scared, that's the problem.
What the hell are you doing?
[Why is this crazy bitch doing this!!]
[Fuck, I'm running!]
Julia's face on the hologram was clearly very peaceful and innocent.
But the terrified voices coming from behind her weren't just one or two.
Maybe my thoughts showed on my expression.
Julia continued speaking in a trembling voice, as if making an excuse.
[......Well, you see, I'm doing a bit of cleanup because I'm leaving the organization this time....]
"O-oh, I see."
Apparently, the definition of 'cleanup' I had in mind and the one she had in mind were different.
[...And I also need to find a new place to live.]
......Well.
The part where she was cutting down her (former) colleagues was none of my business.
Still, those colleagues were obviously the same kind of bastards who came looking for me at the restaurant last time.
Though, from what I saw last time,
it looked like her route circled near where I lived.
Please let her move far away from my place.
I kept that thought to myself.
5. Because You Can't Predict It (1)
After that, I listened to a brief explanation from Julia.
It could only be a brief explanation, naturally.
My mental fortitude was nearing its limit for a long call.
My nerves weren't strong enough to sustain a long conversation while listening to the sounds of people being sliced up, machines being sliced up, and chunks of chrome being sliced up.
Anyway, I'd found a method, so it was time to investigate the bounty again.
I operated the old monitor and keyboard.
I logged into the 'classic game' I hadn't accessed once since hitting max level.
According to Julia, you could check bounties placed on someone through the game.
To think I'd be logging into this game again.
I had been looking for another game anyway, since after hearing Julia's story at the restaurant and finding zero max-level content.
Though, I wasn't sure if another game with this garbage sensibility even existed in the world.
Out of habit, I quickly hammered the jump key.
Let's see.
She said it was in the corner of the village, right?
I moved my character along the graphically rendered village road.
I could see why my past self playing the game hadn't found this place.
It wasn't that it was hard to find, but even when I opened the map to look around, there wasn't a single icon nearby.
No wonder I'd never come here.
It was unlike the always-quiet atmosphere of the rest of the game.
Around this place, there were an awful lot of people who looked like players.
It was my first time seeing so many packed together.
Honestly, this game..., was it a god game?
I set aside the joke that came to mind and moved my character toward an object shaped like an old bulletin board.
Since the system valued anonymity, there was no chance of my identity being exposed.
Probably, if that were possible, a message from the management team would have arrived already.
Or if not, even while I was hunting, someone would have come and talked to me.
My character walked toward the bulletin board with stiff movements.
Incidentally, the stiffness was unavoidable. It was the limitation of bad game graphics.
When I clicked the bulletin board, a large bulletin board appeared on the monitor.
Its shape and UI were very similar to the bulletin boards of various online communities.
The overall game UI was garbage,
but they put a lot of effort into this part.
As a gamer, it made me a little sad.
The subject headings were more systematically organized than I'd expected,
into categories like Free, Info, TIP, Notice, and Bounty.
I was curious about the others too, but for now, I went into the bounty menu, which had been my goal from the start.
There wasn't anything particularly special about it just because it was a bounty board.
Posts were uploaded in ordinary bulletin board form, and the content varied greatly from person to person.
Should I look at the latest ones first?
.......
Oh.
These guys have bounties on them too.
I saw a few familiar faces. After scrolling down a few times, I quickly found my name.
"There it is."
[I wonder what kind of entity dared to post this, I think.]
The poster's name was, of course, hidden.
【Bounty】 [Shun Li]
(Photo registered on city ID)
The individual claims his name is Lee Shun.
Dead or Alive (DOA)
Upon success, 1,000,000 credits provided in the method desired.
Related information via the deep net address below or secret comment.
ㄴ The lonely Mage appears lololol
ㄴ What goddamn lunatic posted this lmaoooooo
ㄴ (This is a secret comment.)
└ (This is a secret comment.)
ㄴ If you want to die nicely, recommending not touching him.
ㄴ All you dark side newbies are gonna get wiped the fuck out!! Anyway, I'm fine since it's not me ha;
·
·
·
The peculiar thing was the reactions in the comments.
......Even evaluating me as generously as possible, I wasn't that intimidating.
I wasn't overwhelmingly strong like someone (Catherine), nor was my hand as merciless as someone (Catherine).
It struck me as a bit odd.
Anyway, a million credits.
By the standards back when I was in Korea, that felt like about a billion won.
A billion for my life.
.......
Was that a lot?
I couldn't get a sense of it.
While I was at it, I searched to see if the names of other guys I knew were there too.
I'd assumed they definitely would be.
Unexpectedly, for Catherine, Andrea, Drex.
Not a single bounty post remained with those three names.
A bounty was placed only on my name, specifically singled out from this lineup?
...I really can't predict what kind of bastard put it up.
Just then, at that moment.
I spotted a player character moving outside the bulletin board screen.
Before he disappeared, I hurriedly typed in chat.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Hey, excuse me! P-something! ]
[ P2034871140(Unemployed): What. ]
The ID was so half-assed it was even more trustworthy.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): I was looking at the board and got curious. Why don't people like the mercenary Shooting Star have bounties on them? ]
[ P2034871140(Unemployed): ]
The other person entered a blank chat in response to mine.
This is....
Judging by my extensive net experience, this meant the other person was currently very flustered.
Why.
After a brief silence, the other person typed in chat again.
[ P2034871140(Unemployed): You a newbie? Good thing this place doesn't save chat logs. Otherwise, you'd just be dead. ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): ? ]
Why would I suddenly die.
Was it like one of those urban legends, a picture that kills you if you see it a few times?
Actually, if Catherine was the subject, it could be true. Catherine, who kills you if you see her a few times..., that sounded plausible.
[ P2034871140(Unemployed): If you're a newbie, listen up. Not being interested in Shooting Star is basically an unwritten rule in this industry. ]
Shooting Star was the nickname for Catherine.
Hmm.
I thought I knew why that unwritten rule had been created.
It really was Catherine, who kills you if you see her a few times.
I nodded my head without realizing it.