Illegal Mercenary.
As the name suggests, it refers to mercenaries who mainly undertake illegal missions.
If you broaden your perspective a little, you might find quite a few people who could be considered illegal mercenaries hanging around even near ordinary folks.
Just visiting the Lower-Class Area, Chinatown, Little Shinjuku, or even Redwood, you’d find gangs of illegal mercenaries everywhere.
When you think about it, the job of a mercenary itself was like that. There’s no need for a certification like other professions to take on mercenary tasks.
What’s needed is only skill and results.
Every day, countless vagabonds dive into the mercenary industry in this world, as others perish.
The difference between illegal mercenaries and regular ones wasn’t as big as you might think.
So, what’s an illegal contract then?
This is even easier to explain than before.
It’s a contract that could harm the city.
To be blunt, if you don’t abide by the city’s laws, you can call it an “illegal contract.”
If you take on a mission and don’t pay the required taxes, that’s also all considered an illegal contract.
Is that why?
In Neon City, the status of illegal contracts is quite low and narrow.
There’s another reason for that too.
Ever since the “No Answer” took over the mercenary scene in Neon City, all illegal contracts have been strictly prohibited.
In fact, I’ve heard that there are a considerable number of people secretly exchanging contracts in the shadows.
But anyway, once caught, they are expelled from No Answer and can’t take on missions from any intermediaries affected, so the number of those taking risks by accepting illegal contracts has definitely decreased compared to before.
But what are humans (and all races) like?
If the path they want to take is blocked, they find ways to return or new paths to explore—it’s how humans (and all races) live.
I’ve never taken on an illegal contract myself, so I don’t really know.
I’ve heard it roughly divides into several factions.
Some create secret sites through Net Space to exchange contracts, while many prefer to meet face-to-face with trusted individuals for high-risk tasks where their identities might be exposed.
Eventually, as time passed, it seems only one method remained.
In the end, that’s how a certain “game” was born.
You’d have to uncomfortably log in using outdated input/output devices like monitors and keyboards.
It has graphics and gameplay lacking the enjoyment that interested parties can’t easily indulge in.
It’s not a virtual reality game but offers minimal risk of actual damage from hacking, as the admin teams physically separated the servers, thus ensuring security.
And this game is outwardly categorized as a regular (or rather subpar) game, making it easy to escape suspicion.
With no data logs left on the server, it’s just right for secretive conversations and good for coercing someone into something illegal.
If this story is true, it wouldn’t be odd that the game’s quality was terrible, including having no max-level content.
…Hmm.
So.
“Do you expect me to believe this?”
“……It’s true, you know.”
I was baffled.
4. Classic Game Enthusiasts (3)
I’ve mentioned before, but with the game turning into reality, there are aspects I didn’t know about the “setting.”
It’s normal for even an NPC casually walking down the street to have a concrete “story.”
But this was an unexpected aspect.
I don’t recall even hearing this while playing the game back then.
Ah, maybe I might’ve forgotten it.
It’s been about 10 years since I played those games.
Aside from key characters or main story elements, I can hardly remember.
It can’t be helped.
But on the flip side, that means I do remember about the main characters.
The hostile NPC in the game.
The villain who loves bunny dolls and is a wanted criminal.
Julia took a big bite of the tomato spaghetti I made her. By the way, the menu said it contained 0.0% tomatoes.
Her cheeks stuffed with food looked just right for an ordinary girl of her age.
Though that wasn’t the reality.
“……Um, so what you’re saying is.”
There’s a “game” mostly used for receiving illegal contracts.
And that she’s curious about how someone could be “hunting” in that game since she’s never seen anyone do it before, so she wants to meet.
“This is what you mean?”
“……Yes.”
While I was surprised that my favorite game turned out to have a secret deeper than the deep net, I was even more shocked to learn that someone who simply enjoyed playing games with me was a notorious criminal.
I merely played a game I liked, yet it seemed to have left a profound impression on a famous fugitive.
I tried to prove my innocence, to show that I was a law-abiding citizen.
“I mean, I told you earlier, but I’m not an illegal mercenary.”
“……I know.”
Huh?
“…You’re the ‘Unique Wizard.’”
“I don’t like that nickname.”
It felt a bit juvenile, honestly.
It seems that the people here have that kind of sentiment.
“…Shooting Star, Red Horn, Tech Master. They’re also companions of mine.”
…Hmm.
When I hear the nicknames of the other companions, “Unique Wizard” doesn’t sound too bad.
But the nicknames of Catherine, Andrea, and Drake just come off pretty juvenile.
If we’re talking about proper nicknames, wouldn’t something like Golden Hand or Smasher be better?
That would be cooler.
Though no one with those nicknames probably actually exists.
“……You’re famous on our side.”
“Other kids are a bit famous, yes.”
“……No, not that. The Wizard too.”
“Me?”
I wondered why I’d be famous.
“……You can’t be killed even if someone tried.”
“Oh.”
Not a great reason.
Nor was it a good assessment.
I guess that’s how it is in the underworld, huh?
Their evaluations are harsher than those of the surface people.
I attempted to change the subject and spoke to Julia.
“Ms. Julia─.”
“Just Julia.”
“Julia, then.”
Yeah, titles are important.
It wasn’t that I got flustered and corrected myself right away.
“…I’m aware you’re a wanted criminal, is it okay for you to be here?”
This was certainly not because I didn’t want to be with a fugitive.
I genuinely said it in pure worry.
Julia lifted the rabbit doll she was holding up to my eye level.
A white rabbit doll.
Its glassy red eyes sparkled at me.
“…Um, this.”
With her other hand, Julia grabbed the rabbit’s ear and stretched its neck and body.
It looked like it was made of cotton as it squished and stretched with her hand movements.
“It distorts signals around me, blocking facial recognition. I had to be careful coming here.”
[Information.]
I was startled.
EVE continued speaking.
[As a result of hacking the cameras, I confirm that the quality near the doll drastically decreases due to the noise produced.]
Really?
Since all of these can be easily obtained in the underworld.
Thinking about it, many similar products are out there.
So that’s why she carried around a rabbit doll.
“…I just liked the design.”
And she giggles softly, saying she likes rabbits.
If I hadn’t played that game, I wouldn’t have doubted her at all.
This little one? A wanted criminal listed by the NCPD? Give me a break!
I would’ve brushed it off like that.
At least it seemed like we weren’t about to brawl, so that was a relief.
I hope today ends peacefully like this.
“But, what about you?”
“What’s that?”
“The real wizard.”
“……Can you call me by my name?”
Hearing my game ID in reality made me feel terribly pressured.
Julia suddenly put down the fork she had been holding.
Maybe she was choking, as she quickly gulped down some water next to her.
It didn’t quite look like a true villain character.
“……Um, my name is.”
“Siwoon, it’s Siwoon. By the way, that’s my last name.”
“Um, um. Siwoon-nim.”
Hearing a fugitive call me “nim” felt kind of weird.
“……I believe there’s a bounty on you too?”
“Excuse me?”
It was natural for my actions to freeze at her words.
She continued.
“…You’re getting famous among the mercenaries in the underworld these days. I think your bounty is even higher than mine, at least for the past few days.”
Why is that?
What kind of insane talk is that?
There’s no reason for me to have a bounty among the mercenaries in the underworld.
I wanted to hear more about it.
But just then,
The inside of the restaurant became noisy.
It seemed like a bunch of people rushed into the restaurant all at once.
The murmurs of the surrounding people told me that something must have happened.
Their target was none other than me.
“There you are, Gold-plated Wizard! We’ve been looking for you!”
The timing was a bit hilarious.
I just found out my head has a price on it, and in that moment, armed individuals with knives and guns burst into the restaurant.
“Took a while to find you, huh? What’s up, Julia? Why are you here again?”
The leader of the group turned his gaze to Julia sitting in front of me as he continued speaking.
“…Hello.”
“What are you doing here? Ignoring your tasks and coming out like this?”
I’m not quite sure who this man is either, but he looks like he’s acquainted with Julia.
“Aww, you’re looking foolish, I see. Didn’t you realize the money trail is right in front of you?”
The leader scratched his temple with the gun he was holding.
I wonder if that scar on his head was caused by that.
From a glance, he seemed to be heavily modified with combat implants.
A level of cyberware comparable to the Chrome Psycos I saw in the past during missions or on the news.
While I was utterly confused and couldn’t speak, Julia stood her ground and said what she needed to say.
Earlier while talking to me, she stuttered slightly, but now she was nothing like that.
“No, that’s not it.”
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t not recognize you.”
The previously tense atmosphere of the restaurant intensified again like a pulled string.
“…Then what are you doing without capturing him?”
“My party member, so it’s not allowed.”
“In that case, get out of the way.”
“That’s also not allowed.”
The leader’s annoyance seemed to reach its peak.
“……Hey. I can overlook you pointing a knife at me as a joke. But what is this? This isn’t the kind of situation you can joke about.”
“It’s not a joke for me either, you know?”
The leader grimaced angrily.
Julia’s hand was already moving towards her rabbit doll in her pocket.
I just stood still.
I didn’t quite understand what was going on.
For now, I took a sip of the cola that was in front of me.
Regardless, it was refreshing.
Thud!
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