Smith looked down at his wrist.
– Clank.
Thick metal chains were visible.
A tool suppressing his wrist.
A very classic item.
However, sometimes it was effective.
Especially when under the control of cybernetic signals like now.
Normally, it would be an item he could easily break with a little force.
But right now, unable to control his cyberware, this ordinary chain felt like an insurmountable wall to Smith.
With a short sigh, Smith muttered.
“Ha.”
And then he thought.
‘…It’s been about a week.’
He couldn’t know the exact time because he was hacked, including the neural computer chip.
It was simply a guess based on instinct.
Since being confined, his sharpened senses informed him that about this much time had passed.
The gang war was much fiercer than Smith had expected.
And that was the reason he got caught.
Gang wars were an annual custom, but Smith never imagined he would be kidnapped and confined the moment he entered Redwood to gather information.
Yet, it wasn’t completely incomprehensible.
If the gang wars had officially started.
An orc that was ‘not an ally’ could become an ‘enemy’ at any moment.
‘I don’t think they’ll take my life.’
It was likely they’d just keep him until the end of the gang war.
Smith summarized the current situation that way.
What was troubling him now was only that he had been kidnapped without reporting to his ‘boss’.
Although they were bound by a contract, Smith’s loyalty was genuine.
‘…I wonder how this will turn out.’
Then suddenly.
Smith recalled the ‘wizard’ he had met before entering Redwood.
Thinking of the wizard made Smith smile briefly.
“Ha.”
The wizard.
A profession that had already faded away, being ignored.
But still, he was an amazing person known as the ‘unique wizard’ among others.
Of course, his first impression wasn’t good.
He was quite frail, after all.
There were rumors that he was just a freeloader with no skills.
Though the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up, some thoughts hadn’t changed.
Even now, he didn’t seem to fit the ‘mercenary’ label.
Because.
At that moment.
The firmly shut iron door suddenly swung open.
Smith halted his thoughts and naturally turned his gaze to the open door.
Light from outside illuminated the dust inside. The wind carried the dust outwards.
“Excuse me, is Mr. Smith here? Ah, yes. The one who is 2 meters tall, male, and works under No Answer. Even if not, we’ll still let you go.”
A voice that didn’t match the atmosphere echoed.
‘…This is why I thought he didn’t fit being a mercenary.’
He was just too nice of a person.
So rare to see in this city.
Thinking further, he realized that greeting him was about all that typically happened for someone in the ‘No Answer’ role.
Smith chuckled lightly.
Raising his hand bound by chains, he waved at the wizard, Lee Siwoon.
“Whoa, are you alright?”
In response to Siwoon’s question, Smith answered.
“…You’re on a mission, right? If you’re moving without a contract, your mercenary reputation might easily drop. Ha ha.”
Half of it was a joke.
Siwoon laughed at Smith’s words, continuing the conversation.
“Well, who knows? It’s been a while since I quit being a mercenary.”
Siwoon extended his hand to help Smith up.
24. The Orc of Cyberpunk (6)
The stronghold of the gang named ‘Red Orc’ was an abandoned factory site.
And.
It was indeed true, just like Michael, the orc, had explained.
The gang members’ equipment was quite special.
“Attack! Shoot them down!!”
Orcs dressed in red hoods fired with machine guns.
While I was using mana to create a shield, Catherine dashed forward like an arrow, deflecting bullets and taking down the gang member wielding the machine gun.
Smoothly passing through.
“Die!!”
From the equipment held by one orc, a grenade was launched with a burst of flames.
Just when I was about to use mana to create a shield again, this time I couldn’t even set up a defense before Catherine dove forward and sent the grenade back towards the enemy.
Naturally, she passed through.
“This is insane…! There’s no way anyone can hack something like this!!”
Seeing Eve’s barrier, the hacker orc felt self-loathing and wailed.
Catherine slowly approached him and gave him a flick, knocking him out.
Again, she passed through.
“……!”
Finally, a tank burst through.
Wow, this gang isn’t just ordinary.
While I was reflecting, Catherine quickly hijacked the tank through the hatch.
“Phew, that was a good workout.”
As if nothing had happened.
Catherine spoke to me.
“……”
Michael, who had fled out the window, started to make more sense.
Anyway, with machine guns, hackers, and tanks.
It wasn’t a game.
The only thing I felt regrettable about was.
There wasn’t a single gang member charging in with a hammer and sickle.
It seems we were far from the red revolution wave in the cyberpunk world.
That was what I thought.
In the end, we were on the top floor of the factory.
“…Who the hell are you guys?”
We could meet the leader of the Red Orcs.
Impressive with its red-dyed Mohawk.
I had heard that orcs have thick skin and their hair doesn’t grow easily, so it seemed to be a hairstyle made through hair transplantation.
Finally, someone to converse with appeared.
I took a step forward.
“Do you have an orc named Smith among those you’ve captured recently?”
It was a virtue of Confucian society to use polite language, so I respectfully asked even the orc (gang leader) I had just met.
“…There are quite a number of Smiths.”
I asked the question wrong again.
“2 meters tall and male— no, that’s not necessary.”
Thinking about it, I didn’t need to explain like that.
“Anyway, I think I know someone among the orcs you’ve captured.”
“…So, what about it?”
“Please release all the orcs you have.”
I had asked politely enough.
Catherine hadn’t killed any orcs (probably) on the way here, so I thought it was best to resolve it through dialogue if possible.
“…I see, that was your goal.”
A sharp light emitted from the Red Orc leader’s eyes; it was the glow from his mechanical pupils.
Maybe to calm his mind.
He took out an electronic cigarette filled with some mysterious liquid.
As strange-colored smoke poured from the electronic cigarette into his lungs, the gang leader regained his composure and smiled.
With a slightly dazed expression, the gang leader slowly continued speaking.
“…No, that won’t do. I finally gathered enough forces to take over Redwood, and I can’t just end this.”
“…No, we—”
I used the Korean language’s four essential sentence components, “no,” to address him.
Other examples include “damn,” “really,” and “but.”
I wasn’t implying that we were going to mess up his forces.
Just that we wanted to release the captured orcs.
I wanted to say that, but—
The gang leader, with blurry pupils, naturally interrupted my words.
“I understand your purpose now. It’s time for me to take this seriously.”
We had already shattered tanks on the way here.
What more was there left to get serious about?
At last, the gang leader’s gaze turned to Tom, his eyes filled with a lethal glint.
“It’s you, the orc who called the other powers.”
“?”
Thomas, who had been quiet and watching the atmosphere, began to look around. He realized that the gang leader’s words were directed at him.
“…Are you talking about me?”
“Yeah, you. Where did you come from? Iron Fist? Green Mob? …Yeah, it doesn’t even matter.”
The gang leader mumbled to himself.
“…I’m just a taxi driver—”
“You brought in the other powers in this neighborhood, that was your doing. And I’ll personally peel your green skin off.”
“……Huh?”
He seemed to be out of his mind.
I initially thought we could communicate to some extent, but the reality of mental care drugs (drugs) was a harsh lesson.
The gang leader with foggy pupils wore a maniacal grin.
“Ho ho ho, you must have thought only you could call for other forces. But not anymore.”
The gang leader manipulated something on his visual interface.
– Boom!!
Someone crashed through the ceiling and fell from above.
Oh, a clean hero landing.
“As I said before, you all called for other powers first. I didn’t start this, ho ho.”
The gang leader spoke with overflowing confidence.
I turned my gaze to the ‘orcs’ that had fallen into the room through the roof.
They lifted their heavy bodies.
I could tell at a glance.
They were equipped from head to toe with military-grade cyberware.
They absolutely did not look like a typical gang.
Of course, the tank was also ‘military-grade’, but it was an outdated model from several generations ago. You could easily find one in the black market.
However, the products they wielded now were clearly of the current generation.
I hadn’t expected it to be like this.
I raised the risk level of the gang in me one notch.
【Is that them?】
The orc that appeared from the ceiling spoke through his mask, his emotionless voice sounding mechanical.
“If you are from Redwood, you must have heard rumors of the ‘Eco Warriors’.”
Eco, what was that?
I felt like I had heard that name somewhere.
In fact, I didn’t think this was the first time remembering this name either.
“I will make you regret coming here!”
The gang leader’s roar echoed throughout the room.
We naturally prepared for battle.
Of course, even just having Catherine with us would be enough, but given the opponent’s equipment, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.
But.
The orcs called ‘Eco Warriors’ remained completely still even after the gang leader’s shout.
More precisely, they were looking at ‘Catherine’.
“……”
What’s going on?
Catherine, who was poised for battle, seemed to notice this too, making a puzzled expression.
The Eco Warriors’ orc spoke in a smaller voice than before.
【…Are you the human mercenary known as ‘Meteor’?】
Catherine nodded.
At the same time, the battle-ready Eco Warriors exchanged glances and nodded.
Before long.
They jumped up from their place and escaped through the same ceiling they had come from.
“?”
Everyone stared blankly at the ceiling they had just exited.
Even I didn’t think to bring them back with telekinesis like Michael, lost in the unexpected situation.
At that moment.
“Ah.”
A forgotten memory flashed in my mind.
Eco Warriors.
They were the group that had terrorized the café where I was, commissioned by Pete Mc.
After that, they were annihilated by Catherine.
“…….”
If that was the case, it was no surprise that information about Catherine circulated among them.
For an ordinary individual, it wouldn’t be the case.
When a ‘group’ fights against an ‘individual’, the ‘group’ usually wins.
But that was the legend of the mercenary world.
‘Meteor’, if it’s Catherine, then there were bound to be a lot of ludicrous stories about her.
They probably judged that avoiding conflict was more beneficial than engaging.
Yet, I never expected they would flee without even a trace.
“……What the hell is going on.”
The gang leader couldn’t continue speaking.
He seemed unable to grasp the situation.
Hmm.
I slowly approached him.
He flinched as if trembling with each step I took.
“So.”
“Yes, yes!”
“Where are the orcs you’ve captured?”
“This way!”
The newly hired guide led us.
*
“Thank you for your hard work.”
I gave Tom my final goodbye.
Although Smith’s counterpart seemed fine.
After being confined for a week, it would be best to get a thorough examination at the hospital.
Also, I needed to contact Natasha.
There were many things to thank Catherine and Eve for, so I had a busy schedule ahead.
It would be better to part with Tom here.
However.
Tom seemed hesitant, as if he had something to say, glancing at me.
What was up with that?
Tom finally spoke to me.
“…Um. Will I be okay?”
“What do you mean will you be okay— Ah.”
I began to understand what he was worried about.
He must have been troubled by the words of the gang leader, the Red Orc.
To be mistaken for another gang’s orc.
The threat of skinning me alive was a bit chilling, even to me.
The gang, the Red Orcs, had already been devastated beyond recovery.
But as a commoner, I could understand his concerns as another commoner.
After a brief contemplation, I sent him a notification via his visual interface.
“Here’s my personal number. Keep it.”
“…Huh?”
“If you need anything, I’ll help you.”
In this cyberpunk world, it felt a bit odd that the first person I exchanged numbers with was an ‘orc male’.
Still, I couldn’t help it for his safety.
I added to my statement.
“You can contact me even if it’s not an urgent matter.”
It was said out of goodwill since he was a likable person.
Even though he had compensated me with credits for guiding me.
This world had far more people who would betray you after receiving credits.
The expression on Tom’s face brightened up a bit after receiving my number. His worries seemed to lessen.
We parted ways after receiving Tom’s final directions at the boundary of Redwood.
It wouldn’t have been a problem to return in the taxi Tom had driven.
However, due to Smith’s large frame, there wouldn’t have been enough room in Tom’s taxi.
After calling for a new taxi, I looked up at the sky.
It was sunset.
Red light gently reflected off a gray sky.
Between the towering redwoods.
The light from holographic advertisements that flowed in from the middle class dimly settled.
Seems like things have cleared up nicely.
I stretched my arms wide.
Ready to go back and play some games.
As I was completely enjoying the atmosphere.
Eve slowly approached and asked me.
“Excuse me, but didn’t you prefer the male cyborg over others, if I might be so bold to ask?”
“?”
Being suspected about my gender identity because I got Tom’s number wasn’t a pleasant experience.
No matter how much this was a cyberpunk world.
That was absolutely not the case.
I desperately tried to explain myself to Eve.
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