Unexpectedly, nothing happened to me.
I heard that a bounty was placed on my name, so I was thoroughly preparing for it.
But for the past few days, absolutely nothing has occurred.
I’ll set aside the fact that Mr. Bill, whose face makes my blood boil every time I see him, keeps coming to visit me.
You can stop coming now….
Since it has become a part of my daily life, it’s not even worth mentioning anymore.
That’s right.
It was just a continuous stretch of ordinary days.
I wondered if Eve had somehow used some method (usually illegal) to block any enemies coming my way beforehand.
[I deny it. There has not been a single hostile entity that has come to our home up to this point, I reply.]
“Do you look disappointed?”
[I deny it.]
It wasn’t that either.
Even saying that Catherine next door rushed out to deal with enemies would be a stretch.
Her house has already been empty for several days.
In most cases like this, she would be out handling personal requests, so I wasn’t too worried about that.
“……In the end, should I just ask someone I know?”
[I affirm.]
Actually, it was the fastest solution.
It was much better than suffering alone.
I activated the visual interface.
A blue window appeared before my eyes.
Sending a message…
I could write it roughly.
Recipient: ‘White Rabbit’
– Sorry for sending a sudden message.
– If you have time, could you talk to me about the bounty thing we discussed last time?
– Confirm and reply (typing…)
Then, suddenly, a call came in.
Who is it? Catherine?
Contrary to my expectations, the name floating was ‘White Rabbit’, Julia.
Maybe it was good timing?
Or maybe she called right after checking the message?
The speed was indistinguishable.
I answered the phone.
Julia’s innocent face was projected through a clear hologram.
Her blue hair grazed elegantly.
[……Hello.]
“Were you sending a message? Did you see it?”
[…Yes.]
I could have just replied with a message.
However, since she took the time to call, she seemed surprisingly diligent.
“Oh, we talked about it when we met last time. There’s a bounty on me.”
[……Yes, what about it?]
As Julia continued speaking, a man’s agonizing scream echoed through the phone.
[Kraaah!!]
“?”
What’s that?
[……Oh, I’m sorry. I’m in the middle of something right now….]
“……What are you doing?”
[……Please feel free to speak.]
No, it’s because I’m scared.
What on earth are you doing?
[Why is this crazy girl doing this!!]
[F*ck, I’m running away!]
Julia’s face, which was clearly visible via hologram, looked very peaceful and innocent.
But the fearful voices that could be heard from behind were numerous.
Did this thought show on my face?
As if justifying herself, Julia spoke in a trembling voice.
[……The thing is, I’m trying to wrap things up as I’m planning to leave the organization….]
“Oh, I see.”
The wrap-up I was thinking and the one she was thinking seemed to hold different meanings.
[…I also need to find a new home.]
……What?
Her beating up (ex)colleagues was of no concern to me.
After all, those colleagues were likely the same ones who had come looking for me at the restaurant last time.
However, I remembered that they seemed to be headed in the same direction as my house.
I secretly hoped they would keep their distance from my place.
I thought quietly.
After that, I got a brief explanation from Julia.
Of course, it had to be short.
My mental strength was close to its limit for keeping a long conversation.
Listening to noises of people getting chopped up, machines getting dismantled, and chrome pieces getting shredded, my mental state wasn’t that strong.
Anyway, since I found a method to resolve it, it was time to look into the bounty again.
I manipulated my old monitor and keyboard.
I logged into the ‘Classic Game’ that I hadn’t accessed since reaching Max Level.
According to Julia, bounties placed on someone could also be checked through the game.
I never expected I would log back into this game.
Having heard stories from Julia at the restaurant and with no Max Level content, I was just looking for other games.
I wasn’t sure if there was another game out there with such a trashy vibe.
Habitually, I spammed the Jump Key quickly.
Let’s see.
It was a corner of the village, right?
I maneuvered my character along the graphically designed village path.
I could finally understand why I hadn’t found this place back when I played.
It wasn’t hard to find, but even opening the map and looking around, not a single icon was visible nearby.
This is why I didn’t come here.
The atmosphere in the game was always quiet and different here.
There were plenty of people around who looked like players.
It was the first time seeing so many players around.
Is this game really… a good game?
Pushing aside the joke that popped into my mind, I moved my character towards an old bulletin board-shaped object.
Given that anonymity was very important in the system, there was nothing much to worry about getting caught.
If that were the case, a message would have already arrived from the operators.
Even if that wasn’t the case, someone might have approached me while hunting.
My character walked stiffly toward the bulletin board.
For reference, the stiffness couldn’t be helped; it was the limitation of the poor game graphics.
Clicking the bulletin board revealed a large ‘bulletin board’ on the monitor.
It looked very similar in format and UI to bulletin boards from net space communities.
The game design UI was garbage, but they must have spent time on this.
As a game player, it made me a little sad.
The topics were organized more systematically than I thought, such as freedom, information, TIP, notices, and bounties.
I was curious about other things, but first, I entered the bounty menu which was my original goal.
There wasn’t anything particularly different about the bounty board.
Normal post format was used, and the content varied greatly from person to person.
Let’s take a look at the latest.
…….
Oh.
These guys also have bounties on them.
I saw a few familiar faces.
After scrolling down a few times, I quickly spotted my name.
“There it is.”
[I wonder which creature dared to post this, I think.]
Of course, the name of the poster was hidden.
[Bounty] [Shun Lee]
(Registered photo in the city ID)
He claims his name is Lee Shun.
Death or Alive (DOA)
Offering 1,000,000 credits in any desired way upon success.
For relevant information, please refer to the deep net address below or a secret comment.
ㅡ A lonely wizard appears ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅡ Which crazy guy posted this, ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅡ (This is a secret comment.)
ㄴ (This is a secret comment.)
ㅡ If you want to die gently, I recommend not touching him.
ㅡ The underground newbies will all die, you bastards!! At least I’m okay, ㅎ;
·
·
·
The peculiar thing was the reactions in the comments.
……No matter how positively evaluated, I didn’t give off that kind of impression.
I wasn’t someone strong like (Catherine), nor was I someone with brave hands like (Catherine).
It felt a bit weird.
Speaking of 1 million credits.
If I thought about it based on the standards from when I was in Korea, it felt like about 10 billion.
A life worth 10 billion.
……
Is that a lot?
I had no idea.
Since I remembered, I searched for other names I was familiar with.
I thought they should definitely be there, but…
Unexpectedly, there were not a single bounty posts for Catherine, Andrea, or Drake.
To have a bounty placed on my name solely among this lineup?
… I truly had no idea who would place it.
At that moment, I spotted a character moving outside the bulletin board screen.
I hurriedly typed out a chat before he could disappear.
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): Hey! PWhatever! ]
[ P2034871140 (Jobless): What? ]
The very sloppy username made it all the more believable.
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): I was curious after seeing the bulletin board. Why don’t mercenaries like Shooting Stars have bounties on them? ]
[ P2034871140 (Jobless): ]
My chat received a blank reply from the other side.
This means….
Based on my countless net experiences, the other party was clearly flustered right now.
Why?
After a moment of silence, the other party typed again.
[ P2034871140 (Jobless): Are you a newbie? It’s a good thing this place doesn’t log chats. Otherwise, you would have just died.]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): ? ]
Why would I suddenly die?
Is there a curse that you die if you see something multiple times, or some kind of urban legend?
In fact, if it was about Catherine, that would be correct. If you look too many times at Catherine, you die… Huh, that sounds plausible.
[ P2034871140 (Jobless): If you’re a rookie, listen carefully. Usually, it’s an unspoken rule in this industry to have no interest in meteors.]
The term “meteor” refers to Catherine’s nickname.
Hmm.
I think I understand why such a rule was formed.
After all, it was really Catherine who would threaten death if you saw her too many times.
Without realizing it, I nodded my head.
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