Unwanted Obsession (1)
Unwanted Obsession (1)
I was sitting inside a car.
It was something I'd mulled over before getting in.
Maybe because it looked like an expensive vehicle, but the plush ride quality was truly excellent.
If only the situation had been different, my mind would have felt as easy as the ride.
"Is the seat comfortable, Shun-ssi?"
Smith, sitting in the driver's seat, spoke to me.
His sidelong glance reflected back at me through the rearview mirror.
Judging by the atmosphere alone, it seemed like a peaceful drive.
"......Well, yes. It's comfortable. Very."
Except for the company on both sides of me.
It would have been even more comfortable if those muscle-bound gentlemen weren't flanking me.
Comfortable my ass....
I muttered under my breath.
And indeed.
My posture and position were completely hemmed in.
Maybe because everyone in the car except me had undergone some level of physical enhancement.
I literally couldn't spread my shoulders.
I was wedged in tight.
With a small laugh, Smith continued.
"My apologies. This isn't an aerial vehicle."
"Well, it's fine."
Aerial vehicle or not.
It's just my posture that's cramped, I added silently.
"Still, we'll arrive soon. Even if it's a bit uncomfortable, please bear with it a while longer."
With those final words, Smith focused back on driving.
Any car these days would be equipped with an autonomous driving system, yet he was gripping the wheel and driving manually.
It was a very Smith-like thing to do, rigidly sticking to the basics.
Anyway, it didn't seem like we'd been driving long, but he said we'd arrive soon.
He must have been going incredibly fast.
I didn't know the speed limit here, but we were definitely outpacing the other cars passing by.
I shifted my gaze to the rearview mirror.
"......."
Something was off.
I scanned the vehicle around me.
Several black sedans of the same make and design were following this car in a row.
They weren't just visible through the rearview mirror; they were on the sides, in front, even diagonally.
It looked like they were forming a perimeter around the car I was in.
Having confirmed that, I spoke up very cautiously.
"......Um, Smith-ssi."
"Yes, go ahead, Shun-ssi."
Since he was driving, Smith answered without turning around.
"......How many people came, exactly?"
"Ha ha ha."
Smith laughed as if he'd heard something amusing.
But the laughter sounded a bit mechanical.
"When coming to pick you up, Shun-ssi, we can't very well come alone."
So how many.
A brief silence settled.
Smith, perhaps sensing its awkwardness, spoke again after a moment.
"We just brought a modest two teams."
A modest two teams, huh?
[After checking nearby signals, I assess that a total of four teams' worth of personnel was assigned.]
Hmm.
Just hearing that was suffocating.
No, with the blocks of muscle sitting next to me, I was physically suffocating too.
"Uh, it's a bit stuffy, so... may I roll down the window a little?"
No answer came.
Instead, Smith pressed one of the buttons on the steering column with his index finger.
A flat, monotone voice came from the car.
《Activating air circulation system.》
[It seems the Orc 'Smith' has no intention of opening the window, I judge.]
It certainly seemed that way.
Then Smith added,
"Ha ha ha, just in case, you know."
"Excuse me?"
Just in case of what.
What could I possibly do.
Even though he heard my puzzled reply, Smith just kept laughing mechanically and fixed his attention on driving.
No way.
Did he think I'd jump out the window and make a run for it?
"......."
That was a better idea than I'd thought.
If I wrapped myself in a protection spell, I wouldn't get seriously hurt even if I jumped from this moving car.
Maybe I should just break the car window right now.
Wouldn't running away be the better choice?
Just as I was thinking that.
"We've arrived, Shun-ssi. Please get out now."
I must have dwelled on it too long.
We had already arrived in front of No Answer.
7. Unwanted Obsession (1)
It was still too early for most people to be drinking.
It was nearly lunchtime, after all.
But there were still a lot of people at 'No Answer'.
I remembered mentioning it once before.
I had described this place as having the atmosphere of a club, a pub, or a high-end bar.
That was because it didn't actually function only as a club or pub.
It was natural for it to be crowded even when it wasn't nighttime.
The first floor drew a lot of rookie mercenaries and had a club-like vibe.
The second floor attracted many veteran mercenaries and carried a high-end bar atmosphere.
And the third floor, where I had just arrived,
was the domain of the de facto ruler of No Answer, the idol and pinnacle of every broker in Neon City.
A figure whose very existence was unknown to most rookie mercenaries, a person shrouded only in rumors.
"Water, or cola?"
"......I'll have cola."
"Got it, so a rum and coke then."
Since when did cola have alcohol in it?
I had no idea.
She, the Boss of No Answer.
Natasha smiled at me.
A captivating smile was clearly visible.
For the brief moment she stepped away to get the drinks—whether it was cola or rum and coke—I let out a heavy sigh.
Whether it was because of her striking appearance,
or because of her high standing in Neon City, I couldn't tell.
But she was a somewhat overwhelming presence for me.
When I was taking a request with other colleagues, it was a little less burdensome, but meeting her one-on-one like this made me even more self-conscious.
Natasha placed a glass filled with cola in front of me.
Thankfully, what she brought out was pure P Company cola, not mixed with alcohol.
Despite being the Boss of No Answer, she was also a playful person.
I didn't know why, but her playfulness was a bit sharper when directed at me.
I downed the cola in one go.
I was puzzled about why she had suddenly called me in.
But after being wedged between those hulking figures during the ride, my throat was dry and parched.
Natasha sat on the sofa opposite me.
As she settled in, she habitually crossed one leg over the other.
Her luxurious black hair cascaded down around her neck.
A small golden hairpin was meticulously tucked into her braided hair.
Natasha was dressed in a cheongsam, unlike her usual attire.
Her sky-blue eyes seemed to pierce right through me.
The intensity was genuinely burdensome.
The one to break the silence first was Natasha.
"I believe Smith told me you had definitely made a promise to visit at least once."
"...Ah, well, I've had a lot to do lately."
Specifically, I had a backlog of new games.
It was definitely not my fault.
"Hmm, not just playing games at home, I hope?"
How did she know.
[That's a suspicion anyone could have, I think.]
I guess so.
Anyway, she knew too much about me.
I took another sip of cola.
When I didn't have a good answer, not answering at all was also a valid tactic.
If there was a problem,
it was that since I wasn't answering, Natasha also stopped talking and the silence deepened.
In the end, wanting to change the mood,
I had no choice but to think of another question.
"......Uh, so, why did you call me here?"
"You're making it too obvious that you just want to get this over with quickly and go back."
"......That's not it."
It wasn't that it wasn't it; it was exactly that.
I wanted to go back.
For an 'I' like me, this atmosphere was too difficult.
The fan she was holding snapped open with a swish.
LED lights and a hologram engraved with a dragon pattern surfaced elegantly across the fan's surface.
Natasha naturally concealed her mouth with the fan.
The gaze remaining above it was sharp.
"......."
If I used magic to pierce the ceiling and drop a lightning bolt, maybe I could escape from here.
I secretly entertained that fantasy.
It was then that Natasha rose from her seat.
She slowly walked toward me.
Because the only people in this room were Natasha and me, there was no one to stop her.
I froze like a frog before a snake and just watched Natasha approach.
I felt a drop of cold sweat trickle down the back of my neck.
I didn't know what I had done wrong, but the atmosphere felt so charged that I should just kneel down and apologize right then and there.
With her mouth still hidden behind the fan, Natasha drew closer to me.
Slowly, she reached out her hand.
Natasha's fingertips grazed the corners of my eyes.
It was the exact spot where my dark circles sat.
The growing pressure felt doubled.
"Maya, was it? That girl you told me about long ago."
I flinched at the unexpected name.
I was baffled as to why Maya's name was coming up here and now.
And how did Natasha even know about Maya?
Had she heard news through the bioware specialist I entrusted Maya to?
The sudden mention of the name caught me completely off guard.
"You have a curious look. You know, don't you? There's almost nothing in this industry I don't know."
Her fingers kept moving.
They traced from the corners of my eyes, to my mask, down under my chin, and only then did they return to her side.
"You're always living busily, just the same."
......It was true that I'd been living busily.
But something felt off.
Her tone felt different from when she'd just dismissed my absence as playing games.
Anyway, since I had nothing to say,
I just sat there quietly again.
"Well, that aside. That's not why I called you here today."
"Did something else happen?"
Or had an urgent request come in?
No, if it were that, she wouldn't have called just me; she would have called my other colleagues too.
So she hadn't brought me here, practically kidnapping me, just to look at my face.
That was unexpected, if nothing else.
Natasha took another step back from me.
Between the sofas we were sitting on was a table that looked expensive.
Natasha walked over to the table and firmly pressed a button on it.
Soon, a large hologram image materialized in the air with a beam of light.
A 3D-modeled design of a smiling emoticon.
If there was one thing different from a normal emoticon, it was the angry, red vein drawn on its yellow forehead.
It looked like an expression of smiling while furious.
"Do you know who this is?"
"A smiling emoticon?"
"Fufu, no."
So did a smiling emoticon have a name, too?
I really couldn't wrap my head around cyberpunk sensibilities.
"It's a newly emerged 'Virtual Terrorist'."
"?"
"Its name is Smile Zone."
That was more batshit insane than anything I could have imagined.
What the hell was a virtual terrorist?
Someone who wreaks havoc in Net Space?
Or someone like Pit Mac or a virtual streamer who only maintains a virtual facade via external graphics, but commits actual, physical terrorism?
Whichever it was, I didn't get it.
I didn't remember seeing it back when I played the game this world was based on.
But,
"......What about that insane bastard?"
"Ah, you don't know yet, I see."
Natasha sat back down on the sofa.
Those deep sky-blue eyes stared straight at me.
"You see, this terrorist is currently targeting you."
"......Excuse me?"
Why me?
In a completely unexpected turn of events,
my mouth just dropped wide open.
I had no hobby of being obsessively targeted by terrorists.