The Starting City, Brockton (1)

A new option had unlocked—one that hadn't been there before. Summon Familiars +2. Just as it sounded, it would increase the number of familiars I could call forth.

I've been short on summons anyway because Weapon Revive's level is still low.

Summon Familiars +2 was a massive boon right now. In a situation like this, it'd normally take two skill points invested in Weapon Revive to get the same effect. At a point where every single point was precious, this was a huge gain.

And when the weapon levels up, the option values should increase too.

I was already looking forward to seeing how high they might climb.

Now I had my dedicated weapon in hand. From here on out, it was time to start growing in earnest.

*

Having finished my business, I left Bares village. Hamilton said he was leaving too. Because of the incident where he'd stolen a weapon and run, he felt threatened and planned to flee to some deserted place to live quietly.

That works out perfectly for me.

I'd been worried he might blab about me, but if he was going to hole up on his own, that was ideal.

And so I returned to Brockton. Now there were a few things I needed to take care of.

I've got about 20,000 babel left…

The money I'd seized from those bandits was running dry. It was woefully insufficient for living expenses going forward.

Even if I find a potion brewer, it'd cost a fortune…

I'd also been thinking about solving my mana issue. The side-effect potion was a type of elixir, after all. Elixirs could infuse all sorts of effects—maybe I could use that to suppress the side effects.

The problem is the insane cost of brewing.

I planned to modify the side-effect potion through a brewer, but it wouldn't be easy right now. Money aside, they were under government surveillance, so without a special connection, they weren't easy to track down.

The request office should solve everything.

The request office. One of Esperro's core systems. You took requests there and got paid commissions. Plus, they held all sorts of information. That's what I planned to leverage.

I could uncover leads on other users or the location of a potion brewer. On top of that, Brockton's request office had an important character named Angela.

In the game, there'd be nothing I could do about it.

But I intended to use the fact that this was reality to get close to Angela. It was sure to help me out big time.

For now, let's take a request.

I needed living money right away, and it was time to build a connection with Angela.

With that, I finished preparing and headed straight for the request office.

This must be it.

I turned into an alley a bit removed from the city center. Rats scurried everywhere, and sunlight barely reached the narrow path. There sat a tavern without a proper signboard.

This was Angela's request office.

Ding-a-ling!

As I pushed open the door, a few people came into view. A sharp-eyed man in a fedora and barabaricoat, his halberd propped menacingly nearby.

Swordsman, probably.

At another table sat a woman in a dress that covered her even to her feet, a long staff in her hand. And beside her was someone with what looked like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a gorilla beast.

Mage and tamer, huh.

They seemed to be waiting for request payouts. It was definitely a far cry from the rural scenery.

Now it was really sinking in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that I was inside Esperro. A strange feeling washed over me.

"What, another customer?"

That's when it happened. As I stepped inside, a red-faced woman spoke up irritably.

Brown bobbed hair covering half her face. Pale skin and blue eyes. This woman, who looked cynical at first glance, was the request office owner, Angela.

"This ain't a bar, so if you got the wrong place, get out."

Angela propped her face on one hand while swirling a glass of whiskey with the other. Despite her looks, she was pretty rude.

"I'm here for a request."

"A request? You?"

"What's the problem? Something wrong with that?"

Her attitude was pretty prickly. Angela was famous in the game too.

-Rage-inducing NPC.

-Number one on the "NPC I'd punch if I could" list.

-Number one NPC that makes you question the devs' brains.

All that was said about Angela. But there was a reason she was like this. She was deeply tied to the game's story—an important figure, in other words.

Proving ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it, a purple glow emanated from her waist. A heroic-grade weapon.

"No problem at all."

Another woman emerged from behind the bar, speaking on Angela's behalf.

"What kind of request are you looking for?"

"Jena, can't you tell just by looking? Kid's an experiment subject. If we take on someone like that…"

"We have to take it."

"You wanna end up like last time? Dying in the middle of a request again…"

"Angela? We have to take it."

"…"

Jena perfectly reined in the prickly Angela, who couldn't budge against her words. Jena was the assistant who followed her like a secretary.

"First time?"

Jena adjusted her glasses as she asked. Straight bangs and long hair in the back. Her neat attire reflected her personality.

"Yeah, first time."

"Hmm, I see."

"See? What'd I tell ya? Taking on kids like this is dangerous."

"Angela, our request office isn't in a position to be picky right now. You know we ran a deficit last month too, right?"

"Ah, that…"

"Booze. Stop drinking. We're broke."

Jena snatched the whiskey glass from Angela's hand, then returned with a few request forms.

"Since it's your first time, I'll show you the ones you're eligible for. From this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one to that one. All bronze-grade, rank 1 requests. Being new, your request rank will be set after completing a few."

Her explanation and gestures were both crisp.

Bronze grade, huh.

Request takers had ranks. From the lowest bronze up to master grade for national secrets.

Rank 1 had simple content and low pay—usually 100,000 to 500,000 babel.

I need to quickly build basic funds while raising my request rank fast.

Your starting rank depended on the level of requests you handled first. For someone like me, it'd just be rank 1.

But this wasn't a game—it was reality. What was normal in the game could be bypassed here with real-world methods, letting me snag high-rank requests from the start.

For instance, if I poked at Angela's sore spot…

"Just like the rumors say."

"What? Rumors?"

Angela reacted sensitively to the word. She knew about them too.

Wonder what happens if I poke the wound of her 'unpopular request office.'

Angela's office hadn't been a success from the start. It was said to be a ghost town at first. Angela had a strong sense of pride, and I planned to exploit that.

"I was worried 'cause they said you only had lame requests, and yeah, looks like it."

I deliberately turned away like I wasn't interested. But for some reason, a chill crept up my back.

Was this killing intent?

"Hey."

Angela's voice rang out. Calm, but laced with anger.

"Which bastards are spreading that crap? What're they saying about us?"

"That you only have lame requests."

"Fuck… Jena. Bring that one."

Jena fetched another request form. She was surprisingly compliant.

Wasn't she usually like this? Maybe my words got to her.

Shff.

"Here, how's this? It's one of the tougher bronze-grade requests. I don't know which assholes are talking shit, but we're not that useless."

"…"

"Ahem, yes, that's correct."

Jena quietly backed Angela up.

This should do it.

The request they'd brought was a bounty one. Bronze grade's highest, rank 3. The payout would be on another level from rank 1.

This was plenty.

Shff.

Angela spread out a few photos beside the form.

"See? These are related to the case. Pretty gruesome, right? Work of a guy called Khalid."

"Looks like a monster did it."

"Right? But nope. Target's confirmed. So what does that make it? Gotta be an ability user. One with unknown powers."

The photos were grotesque. The scene looked like inside a house—bodies torn to shreds, holes punctured all over like they'd been stabbed repeatedly. Hard to believe it was human work.

"But we can't find the bastard. That's why it's high difficulty. Payout's 2 million babel. You think a punk like you could handle something like this?"

2 million babel payout. In the game, it'd be pocket change from a top dungeon boss. But right now, it felt enormous.

"I'll take it."

"Yeah. Next time you hear that bullshit, tell 'em off har—huh? Wait, what? You'll do it?"

"Yeah."

Angela stared at me, at a loss for words.

"Jena, this punk didn't get what I said?"

"Summing up what you said, Angela: the request is dangerous, the perp's location is unknown, and we don't even know what kind of ability user they are. Never mind the risk—it's just hard to solve."

Jena backed her up. As they said, it'd be tough for the current me. But I was different.

I knew this request well. What ability the guy had, where he was—everything.

"I'll handle this one."

"Pfft…"

Gulp gulp.

Angela chugged the whiskey Jena had snatched back. Burning frustration? Or just wanting a drink. Knowing Angela, probably the latter.

"In exchange, if I pull this off, hook me up with a potion brewer."

"…A brewer? You want me to find those guys who dodge government eyes every time?"

"Yeah."

"Why the hell would I…?"

"Can't just take the commission for clearing your old tough request."

"…"

Angela was speechless. Fair point.

Her office barely got any business compared to others. But if a long-stuck request got cleared? Requests would pour in, and takers would line up.

"…Do it."

Jena poked Angela's side. They lost nothing if I failed. The only issue was Angela's bruised pride from declaring I couldn't.

"…Fine, give it a shot if you think you can. I won't care if you die."

Last shred of pride? Angela grumbled as she handed it over.

But I was curious what face she'd make if I cleared it properly.

And completing this would set my request rank. Then I could snag tier 2 gear.

With Yodo, Barseto, I've got extra summon slots too.

Time to get some proper weapons after this request.