The First Button Broke - 2
A blue flame erupted, lighting up the surroundings. Rather than recalling the eyes of my prison break partner from two weeks ago that I'd seen in the darkness sometime, I was screaming.
Fuck, I'm screwed. That was my conclusion as I got flung by the explosion. I was fucked.
It happened about an hour after I'd taken the job. The old man had called it a pharmacy building, but when I got there, it was a pretty big three-story commercial structure. Probably the building owner had run a pharmacy, or maybe it was the last business operating there, so that's what he called it.
Staring at the pharmacy sign with a few letters missing or fallen off, I focused on the presence inside. Whirr... whirrr... Someone on the first floor must've been running an air conditioner or something—couldn't sense shit properly. Confirmed: modern noise fucks with a murim man's presence detection. Knowledge gained.
I scrolled through the faces of the illegal squatters on my handheld terminal. Three of them: glasses nerd, fat nerd, short nerd. Glasses, chubbs, dwarf—I committed them to memory and circled the building wide.
The front had the shutter down, so they probably hadn't gone in that way, and all the windows were intact, not a single one broken.
That left the back door... Peering closely, the rusty iron door had peeling paint, but the doorknob stood out—brand new. Tech guys, my ass; they'd straight-up replaced the whole damn thing. Ballsy move like Columbus's egg. Impressed, I twisted the knob.
Click. Click-click. Of course it was locked.
Should I smash it? A voice suddenly whispered in my head.
Thinking about it, since these assholes were squatting, a busted door wouldn't raise eyebrows. Pistol. Dagger. What to smash it with? As I pondered amid the annoying hum, I felt a presence.
"...Who's there?" A gravelly voice, like the guy's throat was full of phlegm, leaked through the door crack.
"Here for the mark check."
Caught off guard by the question, I'd blurted out the first dumb thing that came to mind.
"......" Scamper! The presence beyond the door bolted away in an instant.
I realized I'd fucked up and immediately drew my dagger, slashing down at the knob. Chaos erupted inside as I stepped aside and kicked the door open.
Flash!
"......?"
The door swung open, and a blue light burst out, scorching the straight-line wall in front of it. I'd figured they might have a gun and dodged accordingly, so I just patted out the flames on my burning sleeve and stared dumbly at the wall.
Smoke billowed from the crumbling wall—it couldn't withstand the impact and was collapsing. Whatever that was, if I'd been a hair slower, I would've been vaporized without a trace.
"D-Did we get 'em...?"
"Mike, who was it? The gang?"
"I-I don't know... Some crazy fuck shows up yelling about a mark check..."
"Mark check? What the hell... We said we'd only do a little of the stuff! What do we do?! This racket's gonna spread rumors!"
Sniff sniff. Listening to the three idiots yap loudly, I sniffed my charred sleeve. Thought it might be real leather for a sec, but the burnt smell said cheap synth-hide.
Anyway... was this right? Recalling the old man's words about "just tech guys," I eyed the crumbled wall. No idea what they were doing in there, but they'd built something impressive.
In hindsight, that earlier whirring wasn't an AC—it had to be that beast humming. Who installs an air conditioner smack in the middle of the first floor?
"Fuck...! No choice now—we hit 'em tonight!"
"No way! Final calibration ain't done! We need more tests!"
"Real combat's the test!"
Eavesdropping quietly, it seemed like they'd clear out without me lifting a finger, so I held my breath. But one presence crept toward the door.
"......"
"...Shit."
Maybe trying to shut the door first? The guy approached with zero guard up and locked eyes with me the second he poked his head out.
The dwarf's eyes went wide as he frantically reached for his waist.
Thwack! Reflexively, I snapped a kick with my metal left leg into his jaw. Ugly mug or not, the impact sent blood-mixed spit and tooth shards flying from his mouth.
Looked like he skipped brushing—either that or figured he'd swap 'em out later. Teeth were trashed.
Lost in that observation to escape reality, a desperate scream rang from inside.
"Miiiike!!"
Guess the one crumpling now was Mike.
Whirrr! The noise from inside ramped up, so I grabbed the falling Mike and shoved him out front as a shield. His tripod head structure was perfect for gripping—I propped him up flawlessly.
Offering Mike to them like that, I stepped inside. There stood chubbs with a wrench and monkey spanner, arm sleeved into a glowing blue machine contraption.
Stalemate. I eyed the glasses guy's rig. The crude machinery behind them connected via metal tubes to his glasses arm, shaped like a barrel, spitting blue flames with a menacing whine. That had to be the blue-light shooter from earlier.
As I sized it up, glasses trembled, aiming at me, and yelled.
"You coward! Taking Mike hostage!"
"Let him go!"
...What the fuck were these guys?
Brain-dead?
"If I let go of the dwarf..."
"He's not a dwarf! His name's Mike!"
"You want me calling you a retard, gang scum?!"
...No matter how I sliced it, they seemed less tech whiz and more moron.
Didn't they get their buddy's life hung on my whim? Or maybe I just wanted to off the idiot. Moron or car-slaughter type—looked like the former to me, but sometimes it's the latter. Tough call.
"Can't you hear me?! Drop Mike and fuck off now! Know what this is?!"
"It's an energy projector—we reverse-engineered Crocs Corp's energy projection system!"
"Crocs Corp, you moron!"
"...You squatters in someone else's building got a lot to say."
"...What?"
"Building owner says get out."
Told to avoid killing if possible, I tried the nice route first. Experience said morons like these never listen to reason, but what could I do? Job's a job.
Anyway, I wasn't the psycho killer the beggar and old man made me out to be—I could tell who deserved death and who didn't. So I went soft.
"The lord above the creator, the building owner, decrees: 'E-vict.' The house stands empty."
"...What? Not Dragonthus?"
"Told that fucker to lay off the drugs...!"
Shaking the dwarf as I announced, their vibe shifted. The two who'd been cowering back, weapons forward, suddenly puffed up cocky.
"Ptoo! Don't care who sent you—scram if you don't wanna get hurt!"
"Got cold feet for nothing... With that shitty implant jammed in ya."
Wanted to applaud the seamless pivot, but left hand held the dwarf, right gripped my dagger—no free hands. Instead, I smacked his forehead flat with the blade's side to express my awe.
Smack!
"You little shit!!"
Didn't like the sound? Chubbs growled, stepping forward and swinging the monkey spanner threateningly.
"......"
They didn't get what holding Mike meant—I pressed the blade to his neck.
"Stop! Al!"
"Damn coward!"
Like back in murim, a light nick drew a drop of blood—they freaked and froze solid.
"Haa..."
Watching them, exhaustion hit hard—a sigh escaped on its own. Facing off with these idiots was making me feel retarded. What if that weapon emitted idiot waves?
"What do you want...!"
"...Told ya, landlord sent me. Quit squatting and get out."
They were pissing me off so bad I might accidentally gut Mike, so I pulled the blade away.
"...Filthy bastards... You're no different from that gang! Just wanna kick us out and line your pockets!!"
Suddenly, the machine on his arm flashed brighter.
"Oh shit... crazy fuck!!"
Couldn't see his eyes through the glasses from the glare, but they were rolled back for sure!
No clue what victim complex bullshit triggered him, but it packed real firepower now.
Whoosh-crash! Somewhere between roar and boom, blue flames spewed again.
I'd already dodged sideways out of his line of fire, but poor dwarf Mike couldn't.
"Miiiike!! Fuck, what'd you do! Din!!! Mike? Nah, not even bone shards left now." I drew my pistol—dagger already sheathed mid-leap.
Bang! Bang-bang!
Firing to suppress, he raised his arm and blocked the shots.
Clang! Kling! Sparks flew as bullets ricocheted—crude-looking but tough material.
"Krak!"
Tough luck. Chubbs next to him caught a ricochet in the shoulder and screamed, clutching it.
Clang! The monkey spanner dropped from his hand, clattering across the floor.
"Die, all of ya...! Gang scum... the section chief who ignored me...! Gonna kill everyone at the market."
"Din... you don't mean... Psychotic...?!"
"Who're you calling crazy!"
Muttering madly to himself, glasses suddenly bugged his lenses out at chubbs and aimed.
"Stop! Why, D-Din...!"
Flash! Blue flames flashed again—chubbs' upper body vanished. Luckier than tiny Mike, at least some remained.
"Dragonthus... retard corp fucks... market pricks... no one ignores me!!"
Ranting like a maniac, he raised his arm high.
"Crazy bast—!"
Never thought I'd dodge this shit twice in one day, but lesson learned. Sneaking close to subdue him, I hurled myself toward the entrance, channeling all remaining qi into my dagger.
Whumm... Qi short of sword beam hummed as I unleashed my best sword wind blast forward like mad.
Simultaneously, blue flames hit the explosive-looking device—
BOOM!!!!
Blue flash erupted.
"Fuuuuck!!"
Fuck, I'm screwed. That was my conclusion as I got flung by the explosion. I was fucked.
That was the downfall of my first official gig.