Chapter 6: Crime City (1)

“Eve, great work today~”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m heading out now.”

Once it hit closing time, I untied my apron and stepped out of the shop.

By now, the walk home had become a bit more familiar.

As I walked to the apartment, I took a moment to recall what had happened yesterday.

‘Who was that woman?’

The one who had been discarded in the trash, dying.

No matter how much I tried to match her to characters from the original game, nothing came up.

I did consider taking her home, since I’d already helped that far, but it was just too much.

She was unconscious, and her body weight was no joke.

Just what kind of high-density alloy had they packed her cybernetics with?

I couldn’t even lift a finger of hers, let alone carry her.

‘So I left her there… but she’ll be okay, right?’

It was probably for the best.

I didn’t know her situation.

Dragging her home blindly might’ve just made everything more complicated.

Better not to get more involved.

What, you think it’s a waste to have helped her for nothing?

It was just like offering a hand to someone who tripped on the street.

It wasn’t some massive effort, and I wasn’t expecting anything in return.

If fate had it, maybe we’d meet again—just that level of thought.

Right now, though, my mind was weighed down by a different problem.

Even after thoroughly searching that place yesterday, I hadn’t found a single clue on how to get back home.

It was a disheartening result.

Was there even a real chance of going back to my world?

Maybe if this were a fantasy setting from the start, things would be different.

A world with magic might offer some unknown method for wish fulfillment.

But this was Cyber City.

Here, advanced technology could build lunar colonies and digital brains, but it couldn’t bend the laws of physics like magic.

Dimension travel and alternate worlds—those things were still treated as fantasy even here.

No realistic theories existed.

I had sworn I wouldn’t give up, but now the impossibility of it all felt painfully clear.

I shook my head, trying to cast off the creeping gloom.

‘I just need to get some sleep and start investigating again.’

Just as I forced myself to keep walking—

Screeeeeech—! Tires screamed from somewhere nearby.

Before I could even turn my head, a speeding vehicle crashed into a wall right in front of me.

KRAAANG!!!

The blast of air from the impact hit like a bomb.

It exploded mere feet away, and I fell flat on my rear.

“Ugh…!”

The scene unfolded so fast, I sat in a daze.

‘What the… was that a car crash?’

Just then, the mangled door of the crumpled car creaked open.

People began crawling out from the gaps.

Still stunned, I stared blankly—until I froze.

Because the people exiting were clearly not normal.

Every one of them was a tattoo-covered thug with a bulky build.

They looked like they were carved out of stone, and despite the wreck, they dusted themselves off as if nothing had happened—without so much as a limp.

While I gawked at the sight, another vehicle skidded to a stop nearby.

A black man with a vicious face stepped out and started yelling with a finger jabbed in the air.

“Yo, you dumb *ss! What kind of f**ing driving was that?! You blind?!”

“S-sorry, boss!”

“Is the package okay?!”

“Yes! Right here!”

One of the skinhead lackeys pulled a suitcase out of the backseat.

The black man took it carefully and growled.

“Good… If there was even a scratch on this, I’d have put a bullet in all your skulls. For now—”

BANG!

A gunshot rang out.

One of the men standing nearby dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.

The others dove behind the car in shock.

“F***ing retrieval team already caught up!”

And just like that, black SUVs came screeching in across the street.

The logo on their side was instantly recognizable from the game.

A-Secure Corporation.

A mid-sized private security firm in Omega Detroit.

Kind of like a mercenary PMC.

They weren’t top-tier, but they were cheap and common, so they showed up frequently in city incidents.

And now they were after a gang.

Which meant only one thing would happen next.

Just as I expected, the soldiers in gray combat uniforms opened fire the moment they exited.

RATATATAT—! BOOM!!

The gangsters returned fire without hesitation.

“F***! Drop everything and run! Light ’em up!”

“Yes, boss!!”

A full-blown shootout erupted.

The street turned into a war zone in seconds.

Blood, screams, acrid gunpowder and flying shells—

And I just sat there, completely frozen.

“……”

Gunfire roared around me.

Ricocheting bullets whizzed past my ears with shrill, hair-raising shrieks.

My brain screamed at me to run, but my legs wouldn’t move.

They locked up like wooden planks—no matter how I tried, I couldn’t even twitch.

‘This can’t be… this isn’t like the game at all…’

Everything—

Every single thing was on another level.

The sound of gunshots this close was like thunder slamming into my spine.

The mix of gunpowder and blood made me nauseous just from a whiff.

BANG!!! SPLAT—! Someone’s head just exploded like a balloon.

I watched bits of pink brain scatter like garbage across the ground.

I couldn’t move.

Just one wrong step and I’d end up the same.

It was the first time I’d ever felt this kind of mortal danger.

I was paralyzed, drenched in cold sweat.

‘Why here… why now…?’

It was a route I walked every day.

But today it turned into hell.

And honestly, I wasn’t totally shocked.

Random events like this happened in the game, too.

Gang wars, hostage crises, mass shootings, car chases—random encounters designed for player entertainment.

But usually you had to drive out of your way to find one.

The game’s map was huge, modeled after an actual metropolis.

The chance of a player being in the exact event zone when it triggered was tiny.

Like catching a care package dropped from the sky while just standing on a sidewalk.

Getting caught up by accident was nearly impossible.

‘But…’

This wasn’t the game.

This carnage was real.

How did I get stuck in this?

Should I have factored in even a microscopic chance?

No—it was just unfair.

A natural disaster like this had no defense.

All I could do was curl up and pray it would pass.

BANG—! RATATATATAT!!

After what felt like eternity, the gunfire began to die down.

When the smoke cleared, the corporate hit squad remained standing.

Only a few gangsters were taken alive.

The rest were riddled with bullets.

Even those who ran were hunted down by drones.

“……”

Once it was over, the soldiers began inspecting the corpses.

One of them fiddled with his comms and reported in.

“This is Alpha Team. Site secured.”

[“Was the package recovered?”]

“Yes, sir.”

[“Good. Clean up and return before ODPD shows up.”]

“Understood.”

BANG—! Another gunshot made me flinch instinctively.

The soldiers began executing wounded gangsters with finishing shots.

One of them walked toward me.

Our eyes met.

He paused, lowered his weapon, and spoke into his device.

“Director, additional report.”

[“What?”]

“One civilian remains on site. Orders?”

A brief silence. The reply was sharp.

[“Leave no witnesses.”]

“…!”

I thought I misheard.

So did the soldier, judging by his hesitation.

“Sir? It’s just… she’s a teenage girl.”

[“You deaf?”]

The command left no room for protest.

“…Acknowledged.”

Comm silence.

The rifle slowly rose again.

The barrel now aimed… right at me.

My heart plummeted.

‘Wait… wait, just—’

I wanted to plead.

But my throat locked up.

Only a rusty wheeze came out.

I didn’t want to believe it. I couldn’t.

I didn’t do anything.

I just got caught in this. Why…?

‘No. This isn’t right. Something’s wrong…’

I wanted to scream it.

But I couldn’t even breathe through my swollen throat.

The soldier spoke dryly.

“Tough luck. Sorry, kid.”

I wanted to vomit.

What the hell did he mean by that?

I knew what kind of world this was.

In this ultra-capitalist hell, the weak get trampled.

But we’re still human.

You don’t just erase someone without trial because they’re inconvenient.

I felt like crying.

Between the fear and fury, my chest ached.

It wasn’t fair.

Maybe I wasn’t a saint, but I hadn’t done anything to deserve this.

Even if I was weak, that didn’t mean I deserved to be treated like trash.

I didn’t want to cry and beg for my life.

Not again. Not even in this world.

My teeth clenched.

I raised my head and looked him dead in the eye.

Still emotionless. Not smiling, not frowning.

Not a murderer—just an employee doing a job.

This guy had probably done this dozens of times before.

Killed so many people he didn’t even flinch anymore.

He didn’t question anything.

Like a machine.

And I knew—there was no point in begging.

“……”

My lips dried out like sandpaper.

Time stretched like a lifetime through that eye contact.

Then suddenly, I remembered something.

Something in my pocket.

‘…Right. I still have that.’

The handgun Kyla gave me for self-defense.

I never went anywhere without it.

I didn’t hesitate long.

My resolve snapped into place.

Fine. If they’re going to kill me anyway, I have only one option left.

“…! Don’t move!!”

But maybe this wasn’t the movies.

It turns out, pulling a trigger is faster than reaching into your pocket.

The death sentence was already in motion.

BANG—!