Chapter 57
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: The Abduction
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"My, it's already 2 PM. Shall we have a meal before we proceed?"
At the recruiter's words, the other three nodded in unison.
As it happened, the scent of food had been wafting in from somewhere, and they were just starting to feel hungry.
"Let's head this way."
Following the recruiter, they soon arrived at a diner.
The rich, savory aroma of soybean paste stew hit them.
"This place is unique in that it's both a cafe and a diner."
The recruiter smiled and took a table, and the others sat down with him.
"Owner!"
At the recruiter's call, the owner, who had been preparing food in the kitchen, came out with a pitcher of water and glasses.
She was a woman who looked to be in her early thirties, quite young to be an owner.
"Did the interviews go well?"
The final interview was still to come, but the recruiter feigned ignorance and smiled.
"Yes! Thanks to you, we were able to finish up in a quiet atmosphere without disturbing any other customers. Thank you."
"Not at all, I should be thanking you for paying such a generous amount to use the space. This place is so out of the way, I hardly get any customers. There was no money coming in. Thanks to you, I can finally breathe a little."
"I'm glad we could help. But I also feel bad. I know today is your day off, yet we've made you work..."
"I'm the one who should be sorry. To call this a cafe and not even offer you coffee..."
"Haha, not at all. Isn't coffee meant for after the meal?"
The owner covered her lips and chuckled at his pleasantry.
"Hehe, in that case, I'll prepare a nice, cold iced Americano for each of you after your meal. Please wait just a moment. I'll bring your food right out."
As if she had prepared it in advance, the owner brought out the food in no time.
The table was covered with a vast array of side dishes.
It was a home-style meal set, featuring an exquisite soybean paste stew.
"Please, eat up."
"Yes, thank you, ma'am."
The recruiter, still smiling, stole a glance at the female owner's backside as she headed into the kitchen before quickly looking away.
"Ahem, everyone must be hungry. Please, dig in."
As if waiting for those words, the players picked up their spoons and chopsticks.
Black Flame Dragon devoured his food as if he were filming an eating show.
"You must have been very hungry. Heh heh."
"*Chomp, chomp.*"
He didn't even bother to respond to the recruiter, focusing solely on eating.
"That's right, eat your fill. You'll need your strength for the final interview."
At those words, the players paused and looked at the recruiter.
It was unsettling, discussing murder at the dinner table.
"Ah, my apologies. Was that not something to be said during a meal?"
"You could say that."
When the impersonator shot him an annoyed look, the recruiter bowed his head again.
"If I've made you uncomfortable, I apologize. But please, don't think of murder as such a terrible thing. Isn't this all for the sake of player unity?"
"Still, killing an innocent civilian is a bit..."
At Ryu Min's words, the recruiter scratched the bridge of his nose.
"Hmm, so it's the fact that they're an innocent civilian that bothers you?"
"That's right..."
"Don't you worry about that. The target I've selected is a criminal."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. So there's no need to feel any guilt. Well, that aside, to lead the world as a player, you'll need a heart of steel. Just like the Black Scythe here."
The recruiter gave a smiling nod, buttering up the Black Scythe.
He was already starting to suck up.
'Well, if the Black Scythe joins the cafe, he'll immediately become an executive.'
Ryu Min was also interested in an executive position.
His reason for participating in this interview wasn't just to obtain the Rune of the Doppelganger.
It was part of a plan to forge a connection with the Player Alliance Cafe.
'To unite the players, it's only natural that I must first rise to a high position.'
Aiming for an executive position at PleSeBa wasn't difficult.
Like the impersonator before him, all he had to do was reveal he was the Black Scythe and pass the interview.
'But that's not the way I want to do it. I have no intention of joining if it means killing an innocent person.'
In any case, becoming a PleSeBa executive was a task for later.
Right now, getting the Rune of the Doppelganger was more important.
As the meal was winding down.
"Did you enjoy your meal?"
The female owner approached, a gentle smile on her face.
On the tray she carried were four iced Americanos.
"Please have some coffee for dessert."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Not at all, I'm the one who's grateful."
The female owner returned the recruiter's smile.
It was a warm atmosphere, but only for a moment.
As soon as the owner went back into the kitchen, chilling words left the recruiter's mouth.
"Well then, after we finish our coffee, shall we proceed with the final interview?"
"Who are we killing?"
At Black Flame Dragon's question, the recruiter grinned.
"Originally, I was going to let you choose someone you wanted to kill as the target, but..."
The recruiter took a long sip from his straw.
"Since you said there was no one, we'll have to abduct the target we've scouted."
"Abduct?"
"Yes. After we abduct the target, we'll move them to a place where it's easy to dispose of the body. Then, the four of us—you, me, and the others—will happily chop up the target. Do that, and you pass the interview."
Hearing it explained like that, it sounded simple.
After all, they had stabbed people multiple times in the fourth round.
But in reality, it felt different.
-To think I have to kill a civilian in the real world. It's a bit unsettling... but at least we're doing it together, not alone, so the guilt should be more bearable.
Reading his thoughts, even the impersonator, who had committed numerous acts of fraud, was hesitant to get his hands dirty.
He was only interested in money, not murder, so it was natural for him to be worried.
'Well, later on, he'll gain notoriety as a doppelganger and run wild, committing murder and everything else without a second thought.'
While the impersonator worried about the murder, there was someone who didn't.
The middle schooler for whom murder was a perfect fit.
-This interview is fucking easy. All I have to do is kill one civilian criminal, right? Not like it'll raise my stats for shit, though.
For Black Flame Dragon, who had already killed in the real world, this was nothing.
"Have you all finished your coffee?"
"Yes."
"Then shall we get going?"
As the recruiter rose from his seat, the players followed.
Seeing them, the female owner came out to see them off with a bright smile.
"Oh, are you leaving already?"
"Yes, we ate very well. Thank you, ma'am."
"You could have stayed longer."
"No, it's fine. We have urgent business to attend to."
As he said that, the recruiter suddenly frowned and rubbed his stomach.
"Oh dear, I must have eaten too much... Where is the restroom here?"
"Ah, it's just around that corner."
"Ma'am. Could I ask you a favor then?"
"A favor?"
"Could you pull my car out for me? As you can see, I'm in a bit of a hurry..."
"Of course, I can do that for you."
The female owner readily agreed to the recruiter's valet request and took the key from him.
She immediately walked to the van parked in front of the cafe and opened the door.
*Click-*
The moment she leaned in to get into the driver's seat.
"Ugh!"
Someone from behind wrapped an arm around her neck, choking her.
Struggling without even seeing who it was, the female owner soon went limp.
"Heh heh, that was easy."
The one choking her was none other than the recruiter.
He had pretended to go to the restroom, then quickly circled back to ambush her.
The recruiter immediately put the limp owner into the back seat and shouted outside.
"What are you doing? Get in, quickly!"
The interviewees, who had been watching the abduction in a daze, hurriedly boarded the van.
*Vrooom-*
The van started moving, but the interviewees still wore bewildered expressions.
"Wh-what are you doing? Why the owner..."
"I told you, didn't I? We have a target we scouted."
"That was the cafe owner?"
"Yes."
"..."
The interviewees stared in disbelief at the female owner lying next to them.
She was sound asleep, seemingly unconscious.
"You said you were targeting a criminal."
"She is a criminal. A classic flower snake who was released from prison not long ago and is living under a laundered identity."
"A flower snake...? The owner?"
"How do you think a woman in her thirties got the money to open a big place like this? It's all money she fleeced from men's pockets."
"Ah...!"
"She seemed so nice, but to have such a twist..."
They belatedly reacted with shock, as if they too had been deceived, but Ryu Min alone knew the truth.
He could hear the recruiter's inner thoughts perfectly.
-Heh heh, fooling people is so easy. Would they believe me if I said her entire extended family were criminals?
Ryu Min's eyes narrowed.
'To frame an innocent civilian as a flower snake.'
He incited them to murder by pinning a crime on an innocent person, making it easier for them to act.
There was no one more vicious.
'His plan is to make them complicit in murder, so it'll be hard for them to back out later.'
What if they later found out the person they killed was an ordinary civilian?
Some would feel guilt.
That would make them easy to blackmail.
Conversely, he could also persuade them by saying they should create a new world order together.
That was PleSeBa's method of ensnaring players who joined, making it impossible for them to leave.
Ryu Min glanced over, reading the thoughts of the impersonator and Black Flame Dragon.
-To think the owner was a flower snake. That bitch deserved to die.
-It's easier to kill her since she's a criminal. Well, even if she weren't, I'd have to kill her to join anyway.
Their thoughts were slightly different, but they both shared the common intention of killing the owner.
They believed that the sacrifice of one person was an acceptable price to pay to join the cafe.
*Screech-*
After driving down a national highway, the van turned onto a mountain road and soon came to a stop.
"We're here. This is the warehouse where we'll conduct the final interview."
The recruiter, having parked in front of a dilapidated warehouse in the mountains, slung the female owner over his shoulder.
He might look like a middle-aged man, but as a level 13 player, he could carry her without much effort.
*Thud-*
He tossed her carelessly onto the floor, but the owner didn't wake up.
She was completely out.
"Let's leave her here and begin our work. But before that..."
A sinister smile spread across the recruiter's face.
"Anyone want to have some fun first? It'd be a shame to kill her just like this, wouldn't it?"
"Hmm..."
Black Flame Dragon, being young, had no interest in the owner, but the impersonator was different.
"Black Scythe? Seeing you hesitate, you must be interested?"
"Well... if we're going to kill her anyway, it is a waste."
"Then shall we enjoy ourselves together? No, I should display the virtue of generosity in times like these. I'll give you, Black Scythe, a special opportunity. You go have some fun first, hehe."
"Ahem, if you insist..."
The impersonator fumbled with his pants and stepped forward.
Reading his thoughts, he had already decided to kill the owner.
He figured a little rape wouldn't matter.
"While Black Scythe is finishing up, you two, Black Flame Dragon and Cockle, please wait in the back for a moment."
"Yeah. Just make it quick."
Unlike Black Flame Dragon, who stepped back with an annoyed expression, Ryu Min stepped forward.
"Just a moment."
"What is it, Cockle?"
"Could I go first?"
"Huh? You want to, Cockle?"
The recruiter was surprised, then a lecherous grin formed on his face.
"Heh heh, this is interesting. I thought you were too shy for this, but it seems you're interested after all? Well, at 19, you're at an age full of vigor... Ah! Is this perhaps your first time?"
"What? Yes..."
"Hehe, excellent. Black Scythe?"
The recruiter sought the consent of the impersonator, who was just about to take off his pants.
"I'm sorry, but would you mind letting Cockle go first? He says it's his very first time."
"Ah, if it's his first time, then I should let him."
The impersonator pulled his pants back up without a hint of disappointment.
In that moment, Ryu Min walked toward the impersonator with a blank expression.
As the two passed each other as if changing shifts, the impersonator spoke casually.
"Do your best. I'm making a special exception for you."
Ryu Min smiled back and replied.
"Thank you. I'll make good use of the Rune of the Doppelganger."
"Huh? A rune? What are you..."
It was then.
*GRAB-!*
Ryu Min grabbed the impersonator's face with both hands and applied a bit of force.
*CRACK-!*
His head twisted around as if he were wringing a chicken's neck, and the impersonator collapsed limply to the floor.
He died instantly.