An Unexpected Bond (2)
An Unexpected Bond (2)
This was exactly the kind of moment where panicking was the worst thing I could do.
Over something so trivial.
I had survived in Neon City far too long for that.
I thought about it calmly.
One thing was certain: they had no idea who I really was.
They probably just assumed I was some average newbie mercenary-A in the underworld.
The reason was obvious.
To that person, I was just some newbie mercenary who'd asked a question about the bulletin board.
And to me, that person was just some newbie I'd recommended the warrior class to.
If claiming that recommending the warrior class was a mistake, I could prove definitively that it wasn't.
Warrior (Jeonbungi).
It was a damn good class.
Honestly, this was true no matter what RPG you played.
If you asked people which classes were preferred and considered important,
it usually broke down into healers, tanks, and DPS, in that order.
I had absolutely no ulterior motive whatsoever.
I had simply recommended the semi-noble class of 'Warrior' to him.
Of course.
There were a few minor issues.
Like how the number of concurrent players in this game wasn't high enough for party play,
and how proper party content like raids didn't even exist.
There were some very minor problems.
That was about the extent of it.
While Mages or Archers were using AoE skills to slaughter hordes of monsters,
Warriors had to pick them off one by one, using single-target skills as if placing each piece with painstaking care.
.......
Hm.
Come to think of it.
Yeah, that kind of was a dick move.
Anyway, I decided to wait and see how he'd react for now.
I kept my hand hovering over the force-quit shortcut, ready to terminate the game instantly if things went south.
His character approached mine.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Thanks to you, I even successfully class-changed to Warrior! Playing games on this old-school rig isn't half bad either. ]
The response was better than I'd expected.
He didn't seem to have caught on to the truth yet.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Hahaha, glad I could be of help. ]
I played the part of the average newbie mercenary-A.
Acted like I didn't know anything.
Fortunately, it looked like I wouldn't need to make a run for it.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Definitely. Just like you said, Warrior really is a great class. ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): ? ]
I typed a question mark with incredible reaction speed.
What kind of bullshit was this?
That class is objectively impossible to be good.
It was the kind of chat message that made me wonder if he'd downed a whole bottle of mental care drugs, as befitting someone from the underworld.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Compared to when I was jobless, my hunting speed is insane. ]
Ah.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): I can actually go 1-on-1 with monsters my own level now! ]
I see.
Just a tiny bit,
a pang of guilt pricked at my heart.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Right? It's strong. There are plenty of reasons I recommended it to you. ]
Still, it couldn't be helped.
The moment he'd already class-changed to Warrior, there was no further advice I could give him.
Just accept your fate....
For the record,
apparently, other DPS classes could start AoE mob grinding the instant they advanced.
That was information I'd heard from Julia.
......But.
There was no need to tell him that truth.
Sometimes, there were things better left unknown.
Besides, this wasn't even a normal game to begin with,
so there weren't many chances to run into other classes anyway.
I didn't bother trying to feed him the forbidden fruit.
You don't always have to open Pandora's box.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Gearing up is pretty fun too, honestly. It's seriously enjoyable. ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Glad to hear it, then. ]
I let out a short sigh.
But then.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): So I told a few of the guys around me how to play this game too, you know? And they all said it's way more fun than they expected. ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): ? ]
I typed another question mark.
Other...... people?
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Oh, perfect timing, here they come. Hey guys! This is the friend I told you about, the one who showed me how to play the game. ]
From off-screen, several similarly shabby-looking characters came running over.
Above their heads,
every single one bore the same letters.
IiiIiiIilIlill1l(Warrior).
InfoSellerNo. 7(Warrior).
P77648(Warrior).
......What.
What the hell had I done?
A wave of guilt surged up from the pit of my stomach.
I couldn't look at the monitor properly.
8. An Unforeseen Connection (2)
But there was nothing I could do about it.
What was done was done.
I tried to pull myself together.
[ InfoSellerNo. 7(Warrior): So this is the person you were talking about back then??? ]
[ IiiIiiIilIlill1l(Warrior): Oh, I've heard a lot about you. This is pretty addictive, you know. Thanks. ]
[ P77648(Warrior): It's great for killing time! ]
Just then, the last warrior continued the chat.
[ P77648(Warrior): Wait a minute, looking at it now, if we all group up like this, that's 5 people, right? ]
What about 5 people?
I suddenly felt an ominous sense of foreboding.
[ P77648(Warrior): 5 people is the minimum required to create a guild in this game! We could seriously make a guild! ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): ??? ]
I had never even thought about it.
A guild...?
This game even had something like that?
No, it wasn't even a game to begin with.
Did we really need to create a guild?
I actually typed the chat message out that far,
but just barely managed not to hit enter, calmly deleting it instead.
I didn't even know anymore.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Hey, that's a seriously great idea! ]
[ P77648(Warrior): Since we're in a game, a guild name like 'Warrior Artisan Union' would be perfect. ]
[ P2034871140(Warrior): And seeing as they're the highest level, our friend here should be the guild master! ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): ????? ]
The person I'd first met here,
Jeonbungi No.2, started jumping around my character.
For the record, Jeonbungi No.1 was me.
...Was this fate?
In the end, a person commits a sin,
and they pay the price for it.
I didn't type any chat messages other than the question marks. But not a single person acknowledged my pitiful act of defiance.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Over here! ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): ]
I wanted to say something nasty.
But by now, there was no way out.
《Would you like to create a guild?》
I became the king of the blind.
......Of all the things I imagined doing in this game,
creating a guild was not one of them.
Just as someone had suggested moments ago,
the guild name was set as the 'Warrior Artisan Union'.
'Jeonjangyeon' for short.
"......."
For some reason,
it was a name that brought back memories of my time in Korea.
It wasn't my original intention, but now that the guild was made,
I typed a message to ask them about the reason I'd logged into this game in the first place.
Naturally, it was about 'Smile Zone'.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Smile Zone, huh. ]
The 2nd generation Jeonbungi answered.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): That guy's gotten really famous recently. ]
[ InfoSellerNo. 7(Warrior): That bastard, there's nowhere he won't stick his nose in. Terrorist activities, support, arms imports, theft. He's got zero professional ethics in every way. ]
[ IiiIiiIilIlill1l(Warrior): Hmm, is that so? ]
That was all well and good, but.
Seeing nothing but rows of chat from warriors
was making me slightly dizzy.
Overcoming the dizziness, I pressed the keys to chat.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Is there any info on that guy's identity, or anything else? ]
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Who knows. A lot of people are looking for him, though. ]
A lot of people are looking, huh.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Sounds like he's done plenty to earn people's grudges, judging by the number of people hunting him. ]
Come to think of it, considering Smile Zone's tone and behavior,
he definitely had a style that would earn him enemies everywhere.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): No, I wouldn't know about that. But if you check the bulletin board here right now, there are tons of bounty posts up on him. ]
Jeonbungi No.2 continued chatting.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): If you're curious, go take a look. ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): I thought only illegal bounties got posted on this board? ]
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Haha, nah. The board admin here also puts up posts from legitimate bounty routes on your behalf. ]
So that was the case.
Since it was brought up,
I moved my character to where the bulletin board was located.
Behind me, the 4 warriors started following my character in a single file line.
I made a point of ignoring their movements as I clicked the bulletin board with its community features.
[Emoticon little shit lol, it's a bumper crop of bounties] [4]
[From the looks of it, he had it coming] [2]
[An Analysis of 'Smile Zone'] [7]
The moment I entered, post titles about Smile Zone filled my vision.
Just as Jeonbungi No.2 had said,
the board was currently abuzz with talk about Smile Zone.
I ignored the other posts for the time being.
I immediately clicked on the bounty header.
The three posts with the highest views and the highest bounties appeared in a window on the monitor.
【Bounty】 [Smile Zone]
Client: 'Gold Rush'
【Bounty】 [Smile Zone]
Client: 'NCPD'
【Bounty】 [Smile Zone]
Client: 'White Rabbit'
The contents were all similar.
Dead or Alive. High-value bounty.
Credits paid to informants.
"......."
Hm.
Gold Rush was the name of a private bounty corporation.
Operating on the line between legal and illegal, it was also famous for acting as an agent to publicly post bounties placed by individuals.
I roughly read the post and figured it out.
If my guess was correct,
the Gold Rush one was probably the bounty placed by Andrea and Drek.
And the bounty posted by the NCPD had to be from Natasha.
If she was the Boss of No Answer, she had more than enough connections for that.
The last one, White Rabbit, went without saying.
Tokkigyeongdyu, Julia.
Having confirmed that much, I closed the bulletin board.
The 4 warriors were jumping around my character, who stood perfectly still at the center.
It was fucking distracting.
The moment I moved, the Jeonbungis started typing.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Are you finished with your business? ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Yeah, well... I was trying to find out some info. But looks like there's no need. I won't have to look into it myself... ]
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Oh, really? There are so many people hunting Smile Zone these days. It's not a good idea to get greedy over a case that's too big. ]
There were plenty of other people besides me working hard on this.
I hadn't even explained the situation in detail.
I'd only given them a rough summary when the message first arrived.
I had no idea the people around me would move this fast.
At this rate, there was nothing I particularly needed to do.
And just then.
I didn't know which number Jeonbungi he was, but another Jeonbungi typed a message.
[ InfoSellerNo. 7(Warrior): Heh heh, I actually happen to have a piece of info on that terrorist myself, you know. ]
At those words, Jeonbungi No.2 answered.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Well, sure, weren't you originally part of an info org? ]
[ InfoSellerNo. 7(Warrior): That's right. But this is info I haven't even released to my org yet, something only I possess. ]
[ P2034871140(Warrior): What is it, then? ]
[ InfoSellerNo. 7(Warrior): Hey now, no matter how close we are, I can't just give it away for free. ]
The two of them continued chatting back and forth.
In my experience,
guys who ran their mouths like that rarely had anything truly important.
So I was just about to ignore his chat.
If only Eve hadn't said anything.
[I request that you ask the user 'InfoSellerNo. 7' if they can provide the address of the desired account or coin wallet.]
"Huh?"
Well, if it was a 'request' and all,
it wasn't a hard thing to do.
I relayed what Eve had said to that Jeonbungi.
[ InfoSellerNo. 7(Warrior): You'll give me credits? The address is (wallet link). But even if you are the guild master, it's gotta match the market rate before I tell— ]
Suddenly, his chat cut off.
A brief silence followed.
Then that Jeonbungi typed at rapid speed.
[ InfoSellerNo. 7(Warrior): I love you, valued customer! It's truly an honor to meet you in such a humble place! ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): ? ]
I was flustered by his sudden shift in attitude.
Eve.......
Just how much did you give him to get this kind of reaction?
[I judge that, assessing its importance and priority, it is not a large sum.]
This info org employee from the underworld was typing out chat messages that practically amounted to a deep bow of gratitude,
and I couldn't even begin to guess
how much it took to get a reaction like that.
Just how many donations was she raking in from her broadcasts to make this possible?
If that was the case,
I wish she'd lift the ban on me day trading my stocks, too.
I waited for InfoSellerNo. 7's chat.
.......
But.
"What if they just take the credits and run? Don't you think you transferred it too rashly?"
[I deny that an account that is impossible to track could be traced.]
"......."
Isn't that statement a bit contradictory?
I suppose nothing is impossible for a high-performance AI.