Unwanted Obsession (2)
Unwanted Obsession (2)
A hologram screen flickered to life in the air.
The interior of a bleak, dark room with the lights off.
Judging by the angle, it was surveillance camera footage.
From beyond the screen, masked figures emerged.
All of them wore identical black clothing.
They set up a special device in the center of the room—a hologram projector.
After a few more adjustments, a yellow circular hologram appeared above the machine with a loud sound.
- Bbababam!!
【Hello everyone! Nice to meet you! I'm your helper, Smile Zone!】
The voice was mechanical and male.
A laughing emoticon, bouncing like a ball, danced wildly around.
When I looked more closely at the screen,
I saw that, besides the masked people, several others stood in the corners of the room.
A few familiar faces were visible.
They were the criminals who had escaped from Pelicanus.
Perhaps because their escape was still in progress,
the restraints binding them hadn't been released yet.
【The reason I'm helping you escape... there really isn't one! I'm just letting you go! Hahaha!】
A sound like canned applause from a comedy show followed the end of the line.
【And for all of you who came to the city of dreams, Neon City, but haven't been able to enjoy anything because you were locked up in Pelicanus! Ah, you can laugh here.】
Smile Zone laughed loudly, as if performing a one-man play.
The room remained silent.
No one, including his subordinates, laughed at his words.
【Oh come on... the mood really isn't here. But I'm fine! I'm fine!】
Then the circular hologram drifted in front of the escapees.
It examined each face intently, one by one.
【You're Chrome Psycho! Try not to get caught this time!】
【You're a terrorist! Let's be friends since we're in the same line of work!】
【You're a bomber? What a unique profession! I like it too.】
He went around to each escapee, leaving a remark for everyone.
The action didn't seem to hold much meaning.
Finally, Smile Zone stopped at the very last person.
The woman I had recently reunited with.
It was Maya.
【Oh, I understand you're looking for a certain Mage. I happen to know that person's location! I'll let you know later. Haha!】
After finishing with Maya, Smile Zone moved back to the center of the room.
In that moment, one of the male escapees shouted at Smile Zone.
"Why the fuck is your tone like that?"
【Hahaha. It's a habit. And isn't it nice to live with a smile?】
The emoticon spun around a few times.
When it stopped spinning, several thick red veins appeared across Smile Zone's forehead.
【But why are you speaking informally to me? That's annoying.】
Right after that, Smile Zone's subordinates shot the man who had spoken informally.
Static flickered on the hologram screen.
In the corner of the screen, red blood pooling on the floor told the man's condition instead.
【There was a brief incident! But I am still fine! Nothing has changed! Everyone, please go out and do whatever you want!】
With those final words, Smile Zone's hologram vanished from the air.
【Thank you! This was Smile Zone!】
Soon the screen went black.
......hmm.
After a short moment of thought, I scratched my head.
"So this crazy bastard is targeting me?"
"That's right."
That was a real problem.
7. Unwanted Obsession (2)
"As you saw, this is surveillance camera footage from Pelicanus."
I nodded.
I had already checked the recording.
I'd seen Chrome Psycho—whom I'd run into while buying a data module—and the faces of the other escapees, as well as Maya.
Just from the footage, it was clear that Smile Zone had helped them escape.
I also remembered Maya saying that the person who helped her escape had told her my location.
"We also cross-verified through separately captured escapees, and it's clear that this terrorist called Smile Zone broke the criminals out."
I tilted my head slightly.
"But isn't it still too early to conclude from this alone that the terrorist is targeting me?"
"I thought the same at first."
If she said 'at first',
then there must be something else.
I focused on Natasha's next words.
"Do you know that there was a bounty placed on you recently?"
"Of course I know."
"...What, so you knew? You should have told me if you did."
Natasha's eyes sharpened.
Under that knife-like gaze, I instinctively shrank back.
A trap, right out of the blue...
I didn't know what I'd done wrong, but
I felt like I needed an excuse.
"...Well, by the time I found out, Catherine had already taken care of it."
Both the timing and the circumstances aligned perfectly.
I answered like that.
"...Hmm, well, that could be the case."
Her eyes softened slightly again.
Good.
I managed to get through it somehow.
Natasha continued what she had been saying.
"There's a separate organization that placed the bounty, but supposedly it was Smile Zone who commissioned them to put a bounty on you."
And the pieces fit together again.
I nodded repeatedly at her words.
"And recently, they've been continuously supporting a group called the Eco Warriors."
"Eco what?"
"Eco Warriors."
What kind of group was that again?
I'd heard of it somewhere.
Eve informed me as I was racking my brain.
[Eco Warriors, the Orc terrorists that the human 'Lee Si-woon' met when he went to a café recently, I inform you.]
"Ah."
I remembered.
So it was those bastards from back then.
The ones who had been orc'd by Catherine.
"...But couldn't that just be a coincidence?"
I had entered that café purely by chance, too.
"After interrogating the Orc that survived at the scene, there's a high possibility."
Hmmmm.
Is that so?
I don't know.
Anyway, to summarize, that's how it was.
In the end, the story was that this terrorist called Smile Zone was disrupting my peaceful daily life.
It was certainly strange.
Lately, nothing but bad things had been happening to me.
It's a fact that I'm unlucky, but
recently, even by my standards, the level was too severe.
Which meant.
"So is that why Catherine moved into the house next to mine? To help me in case something unexpected happens?"
"...Catherine moved next door to you?"
Ah.
I guess that wasn't it.
Hmm...
"Then the stocks I invested in failing, that's all part of Smile Zone's scheme too?"
"Your stocks failed too?"
[It is absolutely not, I assert.]
I guess that's not it either.
EveEve...
As a personal opinion, I wish the stock market ban would be lifted soon.
Anyway, one last thing.
"Could it be that Bill, my neighbor on the same floor, harassing me with his old-man nonsense is also part of Smile Zone's plan? It's way too suspicious."
"...Isn't that one probably not?"
[.....]
Well, even I thought it was crazy talk.
I tried to pull my muddled mind back together.
I slapped my own cheeks a few times, and the clarity that had fled due to the bewildering situation returned.
"So, do you know why that Smile Zone guy is targeting me?"
"I still don't know that. Smile Zone itself is a virtual terrorist that appeared recently, so there's not much information."
If he's a virtual terrorist, he should be terrorizing netspace, living up to his name.
Why he would come out to the city and do this to me was a mystery.
What on earth was he targeting me for?
From what Natasha had explained so far, there was enough circumstantial evidence that he was targeting me.
There must be some reason, though.
........
I really had no idea who it could be.
It was partly because I had accumulated a lot of karma in this world. Living as a mercenary, it couldn't be helped.
Even if there were grudges I didn't know about,
it wouldn't be strange at all.
"If any related requests or information come in, I'll let you know again, so just wait a bit."
"Oh, thank you. Boss."
As expected.
Having many capable people around was great because it reduced the work I had to do.
Sometimes I felt a bit of self-loathing at times like this... but still, when help is offered, you take it.
But the atmosphere was strange.
Even after receiving my heartfelt thanks,
Natasha just stared at me without saying a word.
...Did I make a mistake?
I hadn't said anything strange.
After the silence, Natasha spoke.
"Don't you think 'Boss' is too businesslike a title between us?"
"Huh?"
What do you mean, Boss.
How businesslike our relationship is.
But I couldn't spit out the words I was thinking.
Natasha continued.
"I gave you this information, I asked Tech Master to deliver you implants that are less stressful on the body, you know."
......
Half of it I was grateful for.
The other half was not so grateful.
Honestly, the implants were a bit much.
Even now, the pain I felt during the cyberware check-ups still chased me into my dreams.
Well, still, it was a favor, I guess.
"...Just call me by my name."
"...Huh?"
"Call me Natasha."
That moment.
The 'Confucian scholar-official' inside me reared its massive body.
'Gaaal!!!'
What now.
'How dare you, without manners, try to casually call an elder by name!! You'd know if you'd played the game, but do you even know the age of the person in front of you—'
I blew his shadow away to the far side of my mind as he continued his long-winded speech.
To survive in this cold city,
there are times when you just have to endure and persevere.
I figured now was one of those times.
"Well, um, that is... Thank you, Natasha."
"Good."
She was still covering her mouth with her fan, but
I could easily tell she was smiling.
Natasha's mood seemed much better.
"If you think it might be dangerous for a while, you can stay here."
"I think that'll be fine. As I mentioned earlier, Catherine lives next door to me."
Honestly, with Catherine living next door,
what would I have to be afraid of?
......
Catherine was a bit scary, though.
"...Is that so? Anyway, good."
Natasha got up from her seat.
She moved to another spot for a moment.
When she returned, she was holding a bottle of white rum with a fancy label.
It looked like cola and alcohol were about to be mixed for real.
Natasha asked me as I sat still.
"Still, you can keep me company for a bit, can't you?"
"...I can drink."
A simple drink wasn't a problem.
I thought as I watched the rum and coke being mixed.
But contrary to my expectations, what we drank wasn't a simple drink.
......
We just drank a ton.
Natasha kept pouring, and I couldn't refuse.
I wasn't sure if I was drinking the alcohol,
or if the alcohol was drinking me.
It had been a long time since I drank beyond my limit.
"Ugh."
I felt like I was going to throw up.
* * *
【Hello!】
If I had known I would run into Smile Zone on my way home, I should have held back a little on the drinking.