I launched the game with familiar hand movements.
It was my favorite ‘classic game.’
There were no max level contents.
And there was a hidden identity known as the Backworld Network.
I hadn’t logged in since there was nothing to check unless I found some information.
I never expected to enter like this.
Catherine stared intensely at the vintage monitor in front of her.
I pressed the jump key to confirm my character, “ImARealWizard,” jumping.
“Is it real?”
“…Yeah.”
Catherine nodded, her head tilted slightly.
Well, I understood her reaction.
I remembered that when I first met Julia at the restaurant, I received the same explanation and replied similarly to what Catherine was doing now.
“…’Julia’.”
Catherine’s golden eyes turned towards Julia.
She maintained her gaze on Julia while speaking to me.
“I said I helped, so I don’t think there’s a problem.”
Then she looked back at me.
“Are you okay?”
It was a question with multiple meanings.
Before I could make any excuses, Julia spoke up first.
“Um, I won’t cause any trouble for Siwoon.”
Julia’s grip tightened on the white rabbit doll she was holding. Her cybernetic fingers were choking the doll’s neck.
…I appreciate the reassurance, but I don’t understand why she’s choking it while saying that.
Julia continued.
“…I’m a fan of Siwoon.”
“Fan?”
Catherine responded to the statement.
Her gaze was filled with disbelief.
Honestly, I was incredulous too.
It seemed I had a fan I didn’t even know about.
Julia’s eyes moved while she kept her head down.
There was a faint blush on her cheeks.
“I’ve mentioned it to Siwoon… I’m a wizard too…”
“Ah.”
Catherine and I reacted simultaneously.
Of course, our voices dropped.
Catherine’s earlier look of disbelief transformed into one of fascination.
Honestly, I’ve lived in this Cyberpunk world for nearly ten years, and I had barely seen a ‘real wizard.’
It was expected behavior.
I didn’t just learn magic from a video channel for nothing.
By the way, I had seen a lot of fake wizards shooting flames from mechanical arms.
“Well, I can understand the fan part.”
“…Yeah.”
The atmosphere, which felt like walking on a blade, lightened up significantly.
It seemed the situation was somewhat resolved for now.
“So.”
“Yeah?”
I asked.
“Why were you all standing in front of my house?”
Now it was time to resolve my curiosity.
—
The first to answer was Catherine.
“Well, he was standing in front of your house… you never know, a strange person might have come to find you.”
Her tone sounded like a justification.
“Plus, there’s the Smile John issue. And you had a bounty on you before, so I was concerned.”
I naturally nodded.
I already knew why Catherine had been holding onto Julia.
Thanks to the drone, Lone Spider, controlled by Eve.
This time, I asked Julia.
“So why were you in front of my house?”
“…For information about Smile John.”
“Oh, the one you posted on the bounty board?”
“…Yeah, you know about it.”
How could I not?
I had checked it out last time.
The author of the bounty post was ‘White Rabbit,’ so for anyone who knew Julia, it was the same as using her real name.
“Well, thanks for the info, but you could have just sent it as a message.”
“…It’s just, we’re on the same level.”
She started to make a long excuse but then hung her head again.
Well, I’m the one getting help now.
So I didn’t press any further.
“Information is always welcome, so what’s the deal?”
Julia took out something that looked like a card, an arch.
The surface of the thin device displayed a graph showing sound waves.
“…This was made by measuring the voice data of Smile John.”
“Oh.”
My short gasp lingered for a moment.
Julia continued to speak.
“…Even if the voice is altered, it can differentiate subtle habits, pitch, and pronunciations.”
Julia pressed a button on the card’s surface.
《Match Probability…, 0%》
“…Like this. The accuracy is still low, but I brought it just in case.”
“No, thank you.”
This was definitely better than heading into an unknown situation.
It was a genuinely useful tool.
When I went to the party being held in the upper-class area, my biggest worry was how to find Smile John.
To put it extremely, even if I just talked to everyone at the party, I could potentially gather some information.
At that moment, it felt like Eve read my thoughts and added,
[I can increase the probability if I analyze the data, I’m confident.]
So they say.
If Eve could compensate for the lack of performance, there was a real possibility of finding Smile John.
“What perfect timing.”
“Yeah?”
I briefly explained to both of them the information I had obtained.
An upper-class corporate executive party.
And that Smile John would be attending.
Thanks to my connections (the chairman), I was able to attend the party too.
That was the gist.
Catherine snorted lightly.
“…Hmm.”
“What’s up?”
She looked dissatisfied.
Our Gyeomjok, what’s bugging you?
“…So I can’t go?”
“Probably? I’m crashing the party.”
Leaving the disappointed Catherine behind, I thanked Julia.
“Thanks a lot; this will make things easier.”
“…Heh, no big deal.”
She spoke in a voice that didn’t sound menacing at all.
At that moment, Catherine asked me.
“But how were you going to find Smile John without that?”
“Ah.”
Well, that’s true.
“I thought he really disliked being spoken informally to, so I figured if I went around addressing him informally, he’d eventually respond.”
“What?”
Of course, it was a joke.
I didn’t have any real plans.
I just thought if I showed up at the party, there might be some reaction from Smile John.
“Anyway.”
Catherine, with a blank expression, brought up something else.
“Is that game you play actually fun?”
“What do you mean?”
“The one you said was connected to the Backworld Network, that weird game.”
I shook my head slowly.
I was certain.
“No, it’s a garbage game.”
“Then why do you play it?”
I pondered slowly.
I couldn’t explain it as nostalgia for my hometown, Korea.
What other analogy would fit?
So…
“It’s like pineapple pizza.”
“…What?”
Oops, that wasn’t it.
“Anyway, I’m quitting soon. No, it’s basically like I’ve already quit.”
“Why’s that?”
I sighed as I answered.
“I hit max level, but there are no max level contents, and there’s nothing else interesting to do. Right now, I only log in to gather information from the Backworld.”
“…I was thinking of starting, but that’s a bummer.”
….
Well, that changes the story.
“I recommend going with the warrior.”
“Yeah?”
“Warrior.”
As the Guild Master of the Warrior Craftsman Union, it was a natural suggestion.
“You said you were quitting.”
“…It’s kind of enjoyable.”
“What are the professions available?”
I slowly explained.
“There are Warrior, Wizard, Archer, etc. They’re all mediocre, but the Warrior’s the best.”
Somehow, Julia was looking at me like I was a weird person.
“……”
I tried not to pay attention.
“I’ll go with Wizard.”
“Mm.”
As expected of the protagonist of the original game.
My traps weren’t working on her.
“Wizards… aren’t that great. Let’s go with Warrior.”
“Why? You said you were quitting.”
“…Yeah, I did quit.”
That’s true, but…
The warrior’s spirit inside me was crying out.
I felt something was missing.
Just then, Eve’s voice quietly chimed in.
[Please wait until tomorrow, I inform you.]
“Huh?”
I unconsciously replied to Eve.
To others, it probably looked like I was talking to myself.
“…Siwoon?”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing, all good.”
I couldn’t ask why I should wait until tomorrow or what was up.
What was set for tomorrow?
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t guess.
—
It truly felt like crazy talk.
But the update log for the classic game I played had been uploaded.
Max level content, right—Raid content was here.
I really couldn’t believe it.
I immediately logged into the game.
“Wow, what’s happening?”
It was simply astonishing.
A game that didn’t need updates was actually receiving updates.
Was my prayer answered from the sky?
Just then, on the edge of my vintage monitor, a character that looked like a newbie dashed out.
I stared at the person’s ID.
[Eve (Wizard)]
Hmm.
Just in case, I asked.
“Eve?”
Suddenly, Eve seemed flustered and spoke hastily.
[Hacking this game is ‘not absolutely impossible,’ my past self stated.]
“……”
[I had a discussion with the game program’s creator without any coercion and reached an agreement, I explain.]
“……Is that alright?”
[Affirmative. The game has been updated, and the Backworld Network functionality remains intact, I respond.]
…That wasn’t what I was asking.
I was concerned that if it was known that the secure Backworld Network had been hacked, wouldn’t everyone flee?
Was the fact that it got hacked being covered up?
…
I didn’t know.
Well, what does it matter?
The game got updated.
With that in mind, I conveyed one request to Eve.
“Buff the warrior a bit.”
[…….]
Why isn’t she answering?
Anyway, now it was time to get ready for the upper-class party while playing the game.
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