Ch.115[Episode 115] The Beginning of the Incident

In Gacha Land, there’s an organization called Mountain Bridge Marsh.

This organization grew by creating formulaic mass-produced games and once became large enough to potentially rule Gacha Land, but due to System regulations and intervention from Stars, it has shrunk to about half its former glory.

Nevertheless, whenever people spoke of the rulers of Gacha Land’s back alleys, Mountain Bridge Marsh was always mentioned.

“Boss, I made five games today.”

“Good. Let’s aim for six tomorrow. That should be possible, right?”

Strangely enough, Mountain Bridge Marsh appeared to be quite a solid and legitimate company on the surface.

They occasionally walked the line between legal and illegal, but they never crossed that line.

That’s what people who didn’t know Mountain Bridge Marsh’s true nature thought of them.

“Ah, that might be difficult, Boss. Everyone’s losing their minds…”

“What? Don’t tell me you used more than the allocated amount? Hey! Don’t you know ‘that’ is more expensive than workers? You need to consider cost-effectiveness!”

The man called Boss looked at the condition of the workers.

They had dark circles under their eyes, protruding cheekbones, and their gazes and hands were trembling anxiously.

“Damn it. They’re completely gone. We’ll need to get new ones.”

“Please… give me that… heh… with that I can do anything…”

The Boss poked the person who had lost their mind.

Yet the person’s creepy smile remained, which was quite disturbing.

Yes.

The surface appearance was just a disguise.

Inside, it was a place so full of illegality that it had completely rotted black.

They straddled the line between legal and illegal only so they could excuse their illegal and twisted actions as “mistakes.”

They were pure evil that contributed nothing to Gacha Land.

However, the central System couldn’t expel or sanction them.

Due to Gacha Land’s nature, value was necessary, and value required crisis and overcoming challenges.

Pure evil was excellent material for creating crisis and opportunities to overcome it.

A case where extreme evil actually created value.

That’s what Mountain Bridge Marsh was.

“Hey, go ask for some supplies. Two for Line 3. One for Line 1.”

The Boss, who was checking the condition of workers while walking around the poor environment, spoke to a member standing nearby.

The member diligently wrote down the Boss’s words with a notepad and pen.

“Boss! We’ve got a big job! Opinions are split fifty-fifty on whether to take it, so you need to make the decision!”

The back door of the factory opened and a new member entered.

The man called Boss flinched and looked at the member with an annoyed expression.

“Ah, what is it now?”

“Well, it’s a security matter so…”

The member scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.

Then he lowered his hand and half-extended his index finger.

“…Tell them I’m coming. Run!”

The Boss spoke to the member as if angry.

The member immediately ran out of the factory.

“Hey, junior. Go prepare transportation.”

The Boss spoke to the member holding the notepad and pen.

That member also ran outside like the previous one.

The Boss sighed.

What just happened might have looked like an ordinary situation, but in fact, it was all code used within Mountain Bridge Marsh.

The awkward smile meant something between money and research.

Scratching the back of the head meant theft and robbery, especially at night.

And lowering the hand while half-extending the index finger indicated highest priority.

Since they couldn’t openly discuss illegal activities, the members communicated through hand signals.

The Boss walked slowly out of the factory with a lit cigarette in his mouth.

The sound of seagulls crying “kreek-kreek” could be heard.

While waiting briefly while smoking, a classic car that looked like it belonged in the Prohibition era stopped with a screech.

“Boss! Where shall I take you?”

It was the member who had been called junior.

“Headquarters.”

The Boss attached his vehicle to a hook on the back of the junior’s car.

This awkward situation arose because the System only allowed one person per vehicle.

The Boss climbed onto a dragon-shaped balloon that he had attached.

After tapping the trunk of the car in front twice as a signal, the junior in the front shouted loudly.

“Yes! We’re departing!”

The vehicle started moving and the dragon-shaped balloon floated up slightly.

The Boss still had the cigarette in his mouth.

…

Upon arriving at Mountain Bridge Marsh headquarters, the Boss immediately took the elevator to the top floor.

Although it was called the top floor, it was only a three-story building. After reaching the third floor, the Boss repeatedly pressed 2, 3, 1, 3.

Suddenly, all the panels went dark and the elevator began descending underground.

The elevator stopped at basement level 102.

The Boss stepped into the damp and unpleasant corridor.

“This place feels nasty no matter how many times I come here…”

Finally, the end of the corridor came into view.

When he opened the door at the end and entered, the lights came on revealing six coffins.

“Old-timers, I’m here.”

At the Boss’s words, the coffins opened and six young men and women appeared.

A blonde elf was watching a broadcast with headphones on, a magician was watching the screen beside her, and a handsome but serious man was looking at them with disgust.

On the opposite side, a man in royal clothes was holding a phone contemplating choices, while another man was building a tower with Jenga blocks and placing goblin figurines between them, and a woman wearing a hat that said ‘IQ above 150’ was present.

Each of them appeared normal on the surface.

But those who understood their true nature knew well to fear them.

“So, old-timers.”

The Boss addressed these individuals who were each doing their own thing.

“I heard it was an emergency. What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing major.”

The elf who was watching the broadcast spoke.

This elf was an ancient monster who maintained her life through thousands of shoddy games, but remained due to her beauty and had gained value close to immortality.

“I just found something I want.”

The elf flipped her phone to show the Boss.

On it was playing a broadcast by the Star I’m Not Little.

“…Stars aren’t easy to kidnap.”

“That’s not it.”

The magician next to the elf spoke.

This person was older than the elf but also enjoyed immortality.

A fundamental class of fantasy with cool area damage and flashy effects.

A class that appeared in dozens of shoddy games produced every day.

“What we need is… the doll.”

The magician pointed to part of the screen with a finger.

Meanwhile, her unnecessarily exposed chest bounced.

Really unnecessarily.

“A doll? What about it?”

The Boss asked.

“That doll has a ‘personality’ installed.”

The handsome young man who had been looking at the two women with disgust spoke.

This man, equipped with unnecessarily flashy armor and a greatsword, was another fundamental class that came as a set with them.

However, he had a complex about being less popular due to being a male character and having somewhat plain effects.

“A personality installed?”

The Boss’s expression subtly furrowed.

His face said, What’s that?

“I know. You’re thinking we could just get an explorer android and install it. I agree with that sentiment. But what can I do?”

The handsome young man glanced at the elf and magician with a glare.

“These women want it because it’s cute. What’s cute about that thing? Cool is better.”

The handsome young man grumbled.

Apparently, he was against this plan.

Two in favor, one against.

“But you know.”

The woman wearing the hat, who had been quiet until now, spoke.

“It might be good for image improvement. Honestly, we’ve heard so many complaints about how annoying we are…”

The woman suddenly became blank-eyed as she was speaking.

After about 5 seconds, life returned to her eyes and she continued.

“…how many times have we heard that? If we had a cute mascot, wouldn’t it be less so?”

After finishing her sentence, the woman became blank-faced again and didn’t move for 15 seconds.

This woman was an expert at creating something from nothing—that is, extracting money from free games.

However, she was an eccentric who was so immersed in her work that she even used herself as a test subject.

With this, there were three in favor and one against.

“We’re against it.”

“I pressed ‘agree’ once and got demoted to unemployment.”

The man building the tower and the man in royal clothes each spoke.

As the man in royal clothes couldn’t distinguish between reality and choice options, the tower-building man frowned and said:

“That’s not it. There’s nothing in it for us.”

“Of course, it would be different if we got the original,” the tower-building man added.

The tower-building man’s real body was the head of a fairly solid company.

A company that made collectible card merchandise.

In a way, it could be considered one of Mountain Bridge Marsh’s sources of income.

With this, there were three in favor and three against.

The Boss finally realized why they had called him.

The choice was now his.

…

That night.

At Star I’m Not Little’s residence.

“Hehe.”

I’m Not Little finished her broadcast and lay on the bed, hugging Little Sir Dominic.

Little Sir Dominic struggled at first but soon seemed to get comfortable.

I’m Not Little was not at all threatening to Little Sir Dominic.

Whether aware of this fact or not, I’m Not Little was happily playing with Little Sir Dominic’s plump cotton-filled cheeks.

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly the door burst open, and a masked person entered!

“Eek! Who are you?”

I’m Not Little grabbed her blanket and moved to a corner.

A thief? A robber? A serial killer?

I’m Not Little was so shocked by this terrifying situation that she fell into panic.

“Ah, don’t worry. I’m a thief.”

“What?”

The person who introduced himself as a thief bowed politely.

“Well, actually, we came here to steal your doll. May we take it?”

“What?”

“You said ‘what,’ which means you agree. You’ve consented.”

The thief carefully approached I’m Not Little, making sure not to dirty the floor.

Then he took the doll from her arms and went out the door.

A truly absurd situation.

And I’m Not Little, who couldn’t comprehend what had happened, only realized the situation much later.

Little Sir Dominic had been stolen.