Ch.151Work Record No. 021 – The Industry’s Sacred One (1)

The spotlight, the slaughter, the life in the entertainment industry… Despite the disappearance of vicious online rumors and scandals with Polaris or Ms. Serena, life hadn’t changed much.

Rather, I was satisfied with being able to wake up in my own home without worrying about morning shoots… and more than anything else, the fact that nearly 80,000 credits were deposited for a single job.

I get up leisurely and check my small evil deed first. Though I hadn’t paid attention to it for a while, it still fits snugly in my hand. After inspecting it while turning it in one hand, I holster it and stand up.

I open my to-do list. Observe Noah Verami, contact Ms. Anya, make a good impression on Night Watch’s new employees, chase after K and the transparent eyes…. That’s quite a lot.

A communication request comes in from Ms. Eve. I stretch out a yawn first before connecting. It was nice to hear her somewhat energetic voice, fitting for the morning.

“Arthur, what are you doing?”

“Just organizing my to-do list.”

“Really? Then could you add one more thing? Under my name.”

I reopen the notepad I was about to fold. There were already several items related to Ms. Eve.

“If it’s about our date, I’ve already added that. Is it something else?”

“Besides that, having breakfast. I’m on my way now… do you have anything at home?”

“Just some synthetic food substitutes. Should we eat something modest?”

“Yes, even something modest is important to have.”

As she suggested, I add “eating breakfast” to my to-do list. The feeling of inserting something small among the bigger tasks wasn’t bad at all.

The soy protein cereal with soy milk wasn’t bad enough to make me forget what I was eating. The sweetness somewhat masked the fishy taste. At least it was edible.

While I was planning to spend time with Ms. Eve before work hours, another communication request comes in. It was Ms. Anya. Ms. Eve, who was sitting on a bean bag instead of the sofa with her legs resting on my thighs, tilts her head curiously.

“Who is it?”

“Ah. Another freelancer. She suggested working together before going on a field assignment… but the assignment was the very next day, so it fizzled out. She told me to contact her, but she’s calling first.”

Ms. Eve runs her finger across her lips as if promising to stay quiet, then shifts her position to lean against me. Once again, I deliberately make a show of connecting the call by shrugging my shoulders.

“Good morning, freelancer. Unfortunately, my work starts at 8 PM, so this isn’t my working hours… what’s the matter?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not calling to make you work, freelancer. I hear they can’t call you a rookie anymore.”

Getting recognition from two megacorporations wasn’t an easy feat. Belwether and H Entertainment could acknowledge a mercenary’s skills based on merit alone since they had no conflicting interests, but that wasn’t always the case.

“It was just a security detail. All I proved was that I’m decent at protection work. Isn’t that right?”

“With that silver tongue of yours, I can’t tell if this is humility or if you’re playing with me. Probably the latter, right?”

“To some extent, yes. Direct, high-handed people with their own routines are quite uncomfortable to deal with. So I just speak enough to make interactions comfortable.”

“I’d like you to understand that’s exactly what breaks my routine, industry’s rising star. You got your freelancer license without reason, and about a month after receiving it, you got recognition from two companies. That’s unprecedented.”

The term “rising star of the industry” made me feel quite uneasy. I held back a laugh mixed with a sigh and responded with feigned composure.

“I don’t think I’ve heard your actual business yet?”

“My business has already been conveyed.”

“If your business was to call me the industry’s rising star, then I suppose it has.”

A whistle sounds from across the communication, followed by a satisfied laugh.

“That’s exactly it, freelancer. Both you and the company you work for will gain more recognition. Does that sound good to you?”

I think for a moment. Formulating an answer and articulating it wasn’t difficult. Ms. Eve, who had snuggled close to me, turns her head to look at me and playfully pokes my cheek.

This kind of situation seemed unfamiliar to her, and honestly, it wasn’t very familiar to me either. I’d never been called a freelancer by another freelancer until now.

“If it means more official work, that’s undeniably good. I’ll be able to pass through certain places just by giving my name, and whether it’s notoriety or fame, being recognized is good for a mercenary.”

The problem is that I don’t typically take on many official assignments. Both Gardner’s job and suppressing Belwether’s coup were unofficial tasks where my name and face weren’t disclosed. I continue my answer.

“If it means more unofficial work… well, I’ll just have to be careful. My involvement could potentially ruin operations.”

“What’s this? Are you really a sixty-year-old special ops agent who received a twenty-year-old body for a second life? Right. You understand well. It’s a double-edged sword. Use it wisely.”

“At the very least, I should avoid having someone suddenly call me and say, ‘Are you THE Petrov? The one doing well across the Pacific?’ That’s what you mean, right?”

Laughter comes through the communication. Her voice wasn’t particularly hostile. She seemed to be trying to give advice to a young freelancer. Probably.

“Yes, that’s right, freelancer. And having someone like me in your network won’t hurt. Let’s establish a proper connection. This is purely goodwill.”

Being connected with a freelancer with much more experience than me slightly increases the chance that megacorporations looking to hire her might send contracts my way. I connect our licenses through the freelancer channel.

“That’s true. Even though we met by chance… I’m certainly grateful. If we have a chance to work together next time, let’s meet face to face.”

With that, the communication naturally ends. It seemed I’d gained some recognition for successfully completing the security detail for Heroism & Hope Corporation.

Security work isn’t easy. It becomes twice as difficult when protecting a key figure of a megacorporation within a city owned by that same megacorporation. You have to protect without firing your gun.

You could successfully provide security by mowing down all potential assailants with a machine gun, but few megacorporations could do that to their own employee-citizens without suffering consequences.

Successfully completing such a task and gaining recognition means possessing the highest virtues a freelancer can have: self-restraint and patience.

After all, a freelancer is a freelancer. Half of them are human weapons who have replaced their bodies beyond recognition. What matters is knowing when not to shoot. As I’m pondering this, Ms. Eve leans her head against me.

“Arthur, why do you seem to have so many women around you? You brought Mila, you must have met the famous Serena Vanderbilt, and even the senior freelancer who’s supporting you is a woman.”

Ah. Insight. I can’t help but think of the incident with Polaris too. I carefully choose my response. While I could answer Ms. Anya’s questions almost immediately, this time I needed a brief silence.

“Really? Now that you mention it, there do seem to be more than I thought…”

“Right? You should hold on tight. As tightly as you’re holding onto me.”

I grab her wrist as she playfully reaches for my collar, gently loosen her grip, and then lower my head to touch my forehead to hers. I could enjoy seeing her playful smile up close.

Ms. Eve places her hand on my chest and lightly climbs on top of me as I lie half-reclined on the bean bag. She presses her hand gently against my chest with a coy expression. She seems to have discovered the secret of my heartbeat. Probably.

“So, now that I’m this close, something occurred to me… it’s quite unfair. When I’m embarrassed, my heart beats at least twice a second, but yours… as expected, I can barely tell if it’s beating when you’re not focused.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, seemingly trying to precisely detect my heartbeat that occurs once every four seconds. I lightly embrace her waist and lower her so she’s lying on top of me.

Ms. Eve still wasn’t blushing. She nuzzled her cheek against my chest… leaning on me as if completely comfortable. Is it because we’ve only had a few conversations over communication during these two weeks?

“You seem less embarrassed than usual? At the airport…”

“Shh. Don’t attack my weakness first. Here, you should ask ‘What happened during these two weeks?’ And nothing much happened. Even though nothing happened, I’m depleted. I’m recharging.”

“Simplicity?”

“Yes. Simplicity. When I’m held like this, I feel like I gain the power to make everything simpler for myself too. Of course, you’d say something like telling me to do what makes me happy.”

This time she read me one move ahead. Ms. Eve, who had placed her finger on my lips as if telling me not to speak, nodded with what seemed like the ‘mature’ expression she had so desired to show.

“So, I’ll say I’m recharging both simplicity and joy at the same time. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Can’t we stay like this for about two hours?”

No. The moment she speaks, it immediately becomes childish whining. Holding back a laugh that threatened to escape, I embraced her back as I felt her arms wrap around my neck.

Just as she took from me some sort of power that made everything simple for her, I too had received peace of mind. That day was a busy one.

I arrived early at Night Watch to greet the new recruits, President Yoon wanted to set a date for sniper training… and I had to handle public assignments again with three new employees I’d never worked with before.

Fortunately, it was just clearing out a hideout of a few lone wolf terrorists who couldn’t even form a proper gang, so it wasn’t a problem. An increase in personnel at a mercenary company generally means two things.

That they can take on bigger jobs, and that they must take on bigger jobs. We might be able to handle simple tasks like this a few more times for team-building purposes, but that won’t last long.

Eventually, we’d need to take on jobs that could pay salaries to all ten employees. Willingly shouldering this slightly increased responsibility, another day at Night Watch ends at 2 AM. Time to head home.

For today, I decided to be a bit sentimental with the “rising star of the industry” comment and the reunion with Ms. Eve… So as soon as I got home, I turned on the hologram projector that Mr. Enzo had given me.

I bring up a large board-shaped screen. I think about what I want to do if I become more capable than a freelancer. Eating whale meat. The meat of what was once considered a god would surely be sweet.

I decide to combine the thoughts I had while observing Robin and the situation at Belwether into one idea. I create a new operation project. The operation name… I tentatively call it “Chair Snatching.” It’s just a working title.

What’s the goal? Simple. To kill the cult leader of Hollowwood Creek and bring down that self-proclaimed ark city. Like when I caught Walter, this time I’m hunting a real whale.

Then personal hatred must be put aside for now. The primary objective is to bring down Hollowwood Creek. I write it in the center. The death of the cult leader, what I truly desire, is a secondary objective.

Though secondary, it’s quite important. The “copies,” brainwashed soldiers used by Hollowwood Creek, can only move when ordered. Taking out the leader of that command chain would neutralize them.

I note that the cult leader’s death branches out to the loss of a central figure and the loss of control over the copies as additional objectives. So far, the plan was simple. The problem starts now.

“Chance. Can you look at this operation plan with me?”

“Affirmative. I have reviewed the operation content. So far, it’s nothing more than pie in the sky.”

“Ah, that’s a pretty deep cut for something I already know. Why?”

It was obvious. Hollowwood Creek was an official partner of Belwether Corporation. They played the important role of providing pharmaceuticals to the security team.

While Belwether clearly disliked Hollowwood Creek, they didn’t want them dead. I didn’t have enough resources to stand against Belwether. Chance points this out.

“Hollowwood Creek may be at the bottom rung of megacorporations, but it’s Belwether Corporation that maintains that position for them. Didn’t you receive your freelancer position from that same Belwether Corporation?”

It’s a question I could ask myself, but then I’d end up taking my own side. Only when Chance pointed it out in an emotionless voice could I find a solution.

“That’s right. So the first objective of this operation is to make Belwether willing to abandon Hollowwood Creek. We might get lucky, but counting on that would be stupid, wouldn’t it?”

“Affirmative. It would be stupid. Belwether will keep Hollowwood Creek as a partner unless they have an alternative of similar caliber. How do you plan to solve that problem?”

“The most viable option for now is Panacea Meditech.”

“Negative. Panacea Meditech and Belwether cannot collaborate. This is due to their differing stances on certain human subspecies, referred to as mutants or heteromorphs. I expected you to know this.”

Mutants are the issue. Why does Belwether hate mutants so much? Probably because of Mr. Gunther. Empires have emperors. Belwether has Mr. Gunther. He must have been influencing things.

“Could you take into account that Belwether is quite a dictatorial company? And that my sponsor was the dictator of that dictatorship?”

Chance begins to incorporate variables and formulate a plan that somehow makes sense. Things I knew and didn’t know mix together as the initial draft of the operation board is formed… then it stops.

“Assessment. Even taking that into account, it is impossible with Agent Arthur Murphy’s current state. This is due to a lack of capability.”

“What kind of lack? If I know that, I could at least try to improve my capabilities.”

“A comprehensive lack of all types of capabilities.”

Even Chance’s voice, which lacked an emotion module, sounded gloomy, but the statement was quite laughable. Looking at Chance’s virtual profile that appeared in my vision, I smiled.

“That’s not so bad actually. It means that whatever I do as a freelancer to build my capabilities will help in bringing down Hollowwood Creek. What’s the most important point?”

“The most basic thing is to gain the trust of Panacea Meditech and have them reapply for your free contract rights. After that, you need to soften Belwether’s mutant hunting stance…”

“Ah, Chance. Keep talking. The lack of capability, the impossibility, it’s all fine.”

After a moment of consideration, Chance spoke as if placing hope. Maybe I simply wanted it to be that way. Chance asked:

“Softening Belwether Corporation’s mutant hunting stance. Is that really possible with the capability and influence of a single agent?”

“Isn’t that why we’re trying to solve the comprehensive lack of capability? We have to try, Chance. Will you help me?”

“Of course. I will assist you as long as your objectives align with this artificial intelligence’s purpose. Bringing down a cult and rescuing suffering citizens aligns with this artificial intelligence’s purpose.”