episode_0048

We stopped by Sylvia’s bar to regroup.

-Tiring.

But suddenly, a call from Laco came through Silvia’s terminal.

“Yes, yes. I am the director of the Blue Heart Office. Maximilian didn’t say anything like that. …Don’t you usually give priority to on-site judgment?”

I was able to predict the flow of the conversation just by listening from the side.

Regardless of Maximilian’s on-site judgment, the upper echelons of Laco seemed suspicious of our whereabouts.

“Yes, we will do that soon.”

I heard her press the end call button on the terminal.

“Silvia, who is calling?”

“…Chris. Are you asking this even though you already know the answer?”

“These are the guys from Laco, right?”

“It’s obvious even if you don’t look at it.”

Before I could answer her question, David, who was behind me, responded.

Meanwhile, apart from the serious atmosphere, Martin, who was the captain, started asking us various questions.

Who are the two people David brought, what is that giant mole doing, etc.

“Martin, if you find out, you’ll get hurt.”

“Hey, don’t say anything weird.”

It was something I wanted to try at least once.

But it looks like it wasn’t the answer Martin wanted.

The guy responded to me with an annoyed expression.

“Uh-huh, it’s true. Anyway, it’s no good for Martin to know.”

“Those two people? Or a mole?”

“Ah, this guy is a member of our family starting today…”

“Chris, I never gave you permission?”

Oh my…

I tried to move on somehow, but Sylvia beat me to it.

As the words were spoken, even Johnny became interested in the tribe leader.

“Sister, what is that mole in the first place? He was naturally next to us.”

I walked up to the mole-shaped tribe leader and said while stroking his head.

“My family?”

“….”

Sylvia heard my words and quickly swept her hand down her face.

“Silvia, I would like you to tell me what they said first.”

The only one who seemed serious in this situation was Adem.

“We request the presence of our office solver to explain the situation at the time, and our solver’s terminal.”

“Public terminal too?”

“Yes, of course.”

I asked if it was possible, but it was the same.

Meanwhile, other solvers did not react well because it seemed like their privacy would be invaded.

“Everyone listen to me carefully. There is nothing else to do but submit it.”

“What if I don’t?”

“Then, they will get caught up in various ways and try not to give us the compensation we deserve.”

Naturally, the method Adem mentioned was one frequently used by Maguspol’s companies.

How can they suddenly investigate all of our terminals like this?

Even so, since Youngmin and I did not communicate with hackers, there would be nothing to save.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Okay.”

Johnny and David took turns submitting their terminals. I held out the shared terminal I also had.

“Before submitting it to Laco, Adem and I will check our respective terminals first.”

“Me and Sylvia won’t touch anything. Let’s just do it naturally as is.”

We nodded several times to Silvia and Adem’s explanations.

Meanwhile, the next most urgent thing was… the fairy hacker’s escape.

“David.”

Sylvia called David and pointed to me, Fairy Hacker, and Lina in turn.

“You two, follow me. Chris, you too!”

“Huh? Me too?”

I wondered what kind of combination this was.

***

I liked driving in the car, but it was too sudden.

“So, even though these two don’t know, why am I involved?”

“Because I don’t know how Laco will come out. I thought it would be a good idea for you to leave the room for a moment.”

David gave the answer, but it was actually Sylvia’s idea.

“…Now that I think about it, when will Datihi’s funeral be held?”

“I’ll take care of the urgent issues first. And maybe we won’t?”

“Then who does it?”

“Datihi bereaved family.”

“Ah….”

It was similar with Helga.

In fact, the residents of Maguspol do not care much about the dead.

In some ways, it is a culture that is cold and lacks humanity…

For the residents of Maguspol, it was their own way of respecting the dead.

This tendency was stronger among those working in jobs where they might die at any time.

Naturally, the fixer was one of them.

Why did this culture arise? The answer is very simple.

It was for the sake of those who, unlike the dead, were still alive and wandering over this city.

Solver, master, mage. The guys who make a living fighting in this city are similar.

Their lives were like walking a dangerous tightrope, never knowing when they might die.

Just as you are getting used to success, an unexpected and powerful enemy may appear and you may die, or you may be buried in numerous failures and die without ever experiencing the flower of your life.

Even the so-called top solvers, such as those ranked 2nd or 3rd, rarely last long.

Because right now, they lost everything due to a single mistake by numerous players.

Of course, I’ve only glimpsed the world in the game Dream City for thousands of hours…

Anyway, for the above-mentioned reasons, it is not uncommon for the residents of Maguspol to pretend that nothing has happened in order to forget sad events, and on the contrary, there are quite a few who play more stimulatingly or pursue pleasure than usual.

That’s right. There was no place for the faint-hearted in this city of magic engineering.

The problem was that the solvers were at least accustomed to death. The problem was that the bereaved families of the solvers were not.

What was once a precious family member… when returned to their arms, was reduced to bone fragments in a cold metal container.

Who would regret crying in this situation?

Is there anyone who would not be willing to cry with you in this situation?

It was clear why many fixers did not attend their colleagues’ funerals.

This is because, in order to fulfill one’s desire to mourn a colleague, one must step on the exhausted mind and body of the bereaved family members who are already in tatters.

It doesn’t matter how many quests we completed or how many memories we shared with that colleague.

To the bereaved families, we failed to prevent their precious family members from dying…

He could have been an incompetent person, a bystander, or even a traitor.

While I was thinking unusually heavy thoughts, Hacker and Lina were solving the problem for a long time.

‘Okay, enjoy yourself. If we break up now, we might not be able to meet again.’

This time, the hacker was the only one to escape Cabrini Green from the eastern part of the city. It was natural for Lina to remain in place for future work.

And one more thing.

In some ways, Lina was like our hostage to the hackers.

He is a precious friend who risked his only life for me. No one would want such a precious friend to die because of them.

***

“David, how long does it take to reach the destination?”

“If you wait, it will arrive.”

David’s answer was very vague. It was likely that he was conscious of the hacker and Lina.

Meanwhile, Lina asked David about the detailed destination.

“….”

“It’s okay if you tell me that much.”

When Lina fussed, David answered ‘Seneberg’.

Seneburg, a port located at the eastern end of Maguspol, is the best place to go to the shining sea in the eastern part of the continent.

It was also the place that Ildong’s office used when it went to the shining sea.

“To the shining sea?”

“Of course I won’t go there. From there, we will take a boat and circle around to the southern part of the city.”

David answered Lina calmly while concentrating on driving.

“Aren’t you going to Seneburg for no reason and then get caught?”

“…What?”

David asked back as if he was dumbfounded.

“Chris.”

“Huh?”

But David suddenly called my name.

“The sailors of the Shining Sea are all famous for being crazy. Do you know why?”

Ah, this is too easy.

“Because you don’t betray your own people?”

“Yes, that is correct. Even if a knife is put to your throat, you just die. Never betray your family or friends. They are absolutely crazy.”

David’s last words were filled with emotion. I wondered if he was thinking of a colleague who had targeted his wife.

“…Is there a sailor you can trust?”

“Yes, the silver side is full of retired solvers. Among them, there are those who only roamed the shining sea.”

To the fairy who asked about it, David explained it as if there was a part of them that they all believed in.

As an acquaintance of the problem solver mentioned by David, he helped the hacker fairy escape.

“…Thank you.”

“We are paid to do this. Thank you to your Medusa friend.”

When the hacker expressed his gratitude, David responded as if there was no particular reason for him to be thanked.

Anyway, that tsundere guy.

I looked at it with satisfaction and decided to take a look at the surrounding scenery.

So I turned my head back…

“Huh?!”

What is that!

“David! I think there’s a drone behind us!”

“What?!”

After I finished speaking, Rina cried out in surprise.

“Aaaah!”

David started to speed up the car. And that too in an instant.

“Chris, try something!”

“What?!”

What do you want me to do? I thought a hacker would have to step in here.

But… well, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a way.

I adjusted my posture and glared at the drone.

Then, a swarm of mosquitoes approaching at high speed appeared as if forming a long clump.

“Deal with it!”

At my shout, the swarm of mosquitoes began attacking the drone like a single creature with a will.

How many times has it been… to see a drone being shot down by a mosquito or something?

But my actions seemed to have added fuel to the fire.

Drones, probably from Laco, began to gather in droves.

“No, why are there so many!”

“Wait a minute. I’ll handle it.”

The hacker said that on Lina’s palm and made no movement.

It seemed like hacking had already started. Since it was a job that required a lot of concentration, I decided to wait until the hacking preparations were complete.

“….”

Oh, this won’t work.

The speed at which drones gathered was faster than the speed at which I called out mosquitoes.

There was nothing that a swarm of mosquitoes could do about that much drone swarm.

***

-Hwiik!

As cold air entered the car, a loud noise was heard.

“What is it? it’s crazy?! Chris, close the door right now!”

David’s urgent cry.

Lina was so surprised that she couldn’t say anything, and the hacker was in no condition to react to my actions.

I stuck my small body out through the open window. There was nothing I could do in this situation.

In order to somehow survive and enjoy life again, I needed to take the victory that was not mine directly from fate.

Either deal with the drone swarm or die and become a corpse lying on the road.

It was one of two things.

“I’ll be back!”

After shouting that, I tried to fly in the cold air. But something unexpected happened.

The handling of hackers, unexpected actions by the opposition, and even unidentified external forces.

From Laco’s point of view, it was not a situation to choose any means in this matter.

In the process of monitoring members of the Blue Heart Office who might know a clue… something strange happened.

There was a small violation of the law in the process of displaying Laco’s drones unreasonably.

The law states that you must not fly above a certain altitude.

Along with that, changes appeared in the surrounding area.

The gargoyles overlooking the city from a high-rise building began to move.

When the monitors who existed mixed in with people’s ordinary daily lives revealed themselves, the drones began to explode rapidly.

“…Huh?”

I was determined to compete and compete, but I ended up like a duck egg in the Nakdong River.

Lina even quickly closed the window.

“Chris, sit down!”

“…Yes.”

Instead, I looked at the drones chasing us.

The sight of numerous drones exploding here and there due to the gargoyles’ attack… was a sight not easily seen.

I’ve never seen anything like this in a Dream City game.

***

Thanks to this, we were able to arrive at Seneburg safely.

“Oh, this is what Seneberg looks like?”

Shining sea! The sea water was truly blue and it looked as if there were countless stars in it.

There really is no other Milky Way!

Despite the salty smell of the sea tickling my nose, it wasn’t unpleasant.

Should I actually be excited to see one of the famous locations in the game with my own eyes?

However, unlike me, who was filled with excitement, Lina and Hacker seemed not mentally prepared to face the approaching time of separation.

“Wait a minute, wait here.”

After saying that, David appeared with the sailors shortly afterwards.

The person who appeared to be the leader of the sailors… was wearing a prosthetic hook on his left hand. Hey, Captain Hook was here too.

“Is this young lady our guest?”

“No, next to it.”

“Ah! This fairy?!”

The sailor shouted with great joy.

It is only natural that for sailors with many superstitions, it would be more pleasant to ride a fairy rather than a Medusa.

“Okay, then let’s leave right away.”

“….”

David handed money to Captain Hook, and also gave a certain amount of money to the fairy hacker.

“…This?”

“Our director told me to give it to you. Words are your everything. What are you going to do in the south of the city when you’re broke?”

“….”

Hot tears streamed down the little fairy’s pretty face.

Lina also started crying.

Hacker followed Captain Hook aboard one of the loud ships.

Me, David, and Lina were looking at the scene near the dock.

“Tina!!!”

‘Oh, surprise!’

Lina suddenly shouted someone’s name loudly. Looks like that fairy hacker’s name is Tina.

“Lina!”

Tina also shouted in response to Lina’s shout.

The sound coming from that small body was truly resounding.

“It’s impossible right now… but I’ll definitely follow along!!!”

Tina responded to Lina’s shout by saying in a louder voice that she would definitely be waiting.

Anyone who sees it may say that it is an extremely childish appearance.

But David and I watched in silence.

“Huhhh….”

As she watched the ship moving further and further away, Lina began to cry and cry bitterly.

As soon as Tina was out of sight, I patted her back as if I was proud of her as she started to cry.

David also joined me.

As the two people patted Lina on the back, Lina suddenly hugged me, probably overcome with emotion.

“…It’s complete nonsense.”

Considering her first impression, her appearance was unimaginable.

After the tearful send-off, we naturally went back to Sylvia’s bar.

We asked Laco for an explanation about the commotion related to the drones along the way, but we responded that we were not aware of it.

In the first place, I thought that the drones that were destroyed might have violated the law that states they cannot fly above a certain altitude. Probably.

After completing one official request and one unofficial request in one go…

Lina not only joined our Blue Heart Office, but also became the new bartender and worked at Sylvia’s bar.