episode_0056

It had already been a week of training to get used to Cerberus, a device built with a safety-disregarding design that paid no mind to user safety.

Luna seemed displeased with me using such a dangerous item and opposed its use, but at my persistent persuasion that getting used to it now could save my life in a dangerous situation, she sighed and joined the training.

Following a military speedware training manual, I combined high-intensity adaptation training with emotion control training, making it feel like the intensity of my usual combat training had increased tenfold.

Moreover, since I could only endure the recoil to a certain extent, it was routine to be half-dead after training.

It was unavoidable, as its basic mechanism was to shatter the user’s body.

‘The fortunate thing is, it seems to be getting a little better with time…’

On the first day, even with Martina’s assistance, I almost went completely mad and developed chromepsycho symptoms, but by the seventh day, it only ended with full-body bruises, full-body fractures, and nerve damage.

Of course, there was also a difference in the number of consecutive uses, but adaptation and proficiency seemed to have played a big role.

“My pride is hurt…”

“I got beaten like a dog again today, shouldn’t I be the one whose pride is hurt?”

“I have how many years of experience; it would be strange if you could beat me just because you’re equipped with slightly better cyberware.”

“I don’t think it’s ‘slightly’…”

Luna was still a difficult opponent to beat.

Although I was still being dragged around by Cerberus, my physical specs already far surpassed Luna’s.

At first, she couldn’t adapt to my speed and strength, so I won several rounds in a row, but as sparring sessions accumulated, Luna seemed to have adapted, and her win rate returned to an average of 30%.

The difference in skill and experience was overwhelming.

‘Scarlet D. Phoenix, was it? Winning against her might have just been a temporary fluke…’

This result was only because it was sparring; in real combat, where a single slip-up could cost you your life, overwhelming physical abilities that create such unexpected results would be good for creating variables.

Soaked in sweat, Luna grabbed the neckline of her clinging running shirt and flapped it, drying her moist and glistening chest.

“Anyway, there’s a request that came in today, so shower and come right away.”

“Not showering together today?”

“It’s not just you and me in the gym right now…!”

“What a shame.”

Luna, who earnestly urged me to go to the men’s shower room if I didn’t want to get sued, turned around and quickly entered the shower room before anyone’s gaze could reach her.

Surely I wouldn’t be that crazy.

I snickered, pulled a ridiculously expensive protein pack from the vending machine, drank it, and headed to the shower room.

***

“Hey, you. You said you were dying lately, right?”

“Don’t even talk about it. If it were you, you would have died with 100% certainty, without any probability manipulation.”

Luna’s bar was bustling, unlike its usual quietness.

Actually, to say it was bustling might be an overstatement; only Luna and Mason, the bartenders, and myself and Martina, the bar regulars, along with JQ, Blake, and Raleigh, had been added, but even that much was something, wasn’t it?

Since I mainly took individual requests to raise my personal reputation, they acted glad to see me.

“Shit! I heard about the job at Golden Arch. Fucking USA soldiers, you killed them all.”

“Anyone hearing that would think you really went after actual soldiers. They’re just a mafia group made up of retired soldiers. So, what’s this job about?”

I kicked the still overreacting Blake and sat down, asking Luna, our fixer, for an explanation as she had gathered us.

At my signal to start the work, everyone turned their heads to Luna.

Luna, met with a total of six pairs of eyes, manipulated the panel as if accustomed to it, sending a request file to all of us.

“Security… Guard duty?”

Usually, jobs taken by mercenaries are mostly quite illegal and violent.

The reason is that corporations monopolize all the legitimate jobs and don’t want to share the pie with growing new forces.

Furthermore, between a professional security team that has received formal security training and street gunmen who only know how to blow people’s heads off, who would be more trustworthy and better at escorting?

Because of this, we simply made strange expressions at the file Luna sent and looked at each other.

“Alright, alright. I knew you’d react like that. You all seem curious as to why this request came to us instead of a private security firm, right?”

“Hey, Luna. Besides, this isn’t just guard duty, it’s about distinguishing and controlling sudden situations. I mean, it would be a bit easier for me if I used drones, but it doesn’t seem to suit these guys much.”

JQ, a quick-witted decker, frowned, wondering if it was a job he would have to do all by himself.

*A soft hiss.* “…”

“I agree.”

While they possessed skills to rival a crazy talent like Johann, even Raleigh the sniper and Blake the close-quarters assault specialist, who could sweep everyone clean, didn’t quite fit the image of bodyguards.

At least if I were to act as a bodyguard by putting my body on the line, I could physically protect the client.

‘The Body of Zuwa Budong is not immortal, therefore it requires keeping as far away from danger as possible.’

‘This is my body, you punk.’

Anyway, Luna ignored such negative reactions and continued her explanation.

Ultimately, if she, as the leader and fixer, chose the job, it meant she judged it to be something that could be handled within our capabilities.

We all closed our mouths and focused on the continuing story.

“It’s not that difficult a job. Distinguishing situations won’t be high difficulty either. That’s because we’ll be collaborating with Hellstream, whom we met on Rossboard before.”

“What?”

As the mech-fanatics came to mind, I gave Luna a look asking if she was serious, but she merely shrugged and deftly brushed it off.

“Anyway, let’s hear the more detailed explanation from the client.”

*A creak—*Just then, a man in funky attire, wearing glittering LED goggles and proudly displaying a stylish gold-plated mechanical arm, opened the bar door, which was clearly set to CLOSE, and entered.

A cyborg, whose proportion of chrome seemed considerably high for a regular person, let out a hearty laugh, revealing teeth embedded with diamonds in the shape of ECLIPSE.

Somehow, he looked familiar… Who was he?

“This is insane! It’s Closing Age!!!”

With disbelieving eyes, JQ jumped up from his seat.

What the hell is Closing Age, you nerd.

Closing Age. I had no particular interest in the entertainment industry, so I didn’t know, but he was said to be a super popular musician whom almost no one didn’t know, and a mega influencer with 400 million followers.

JQ made a fuss, asking how I could not know Closing Age, but he quieted down after being given a very strong woof-punch from Cerberus, who disliked noise.

“I apologize, I’m not particularly fond of music.”

“Hahahaha! It’s fine! A musician is someone loved by many, not someone loved by everyone!”

Closing Age, perhaps naturally a jovial person, laughed heartily and waved his hand dismissively.

Usually, famous people would first give you a jab for not knowing who they are, so he might be a rare great person in this fucked-up era.

“Anyway, since you all must be curious why someone with enough money to hire a private security firm would make this request, I’ll explain the reason.”

Perhaps because he was a person pressed for time, the story progressed quickly.

Everyone focused on his words as he began to speak, and to summarize what he told us after a long explanation…

While he had a casual personality, he also had a ‘fiery’ personality in a bad way, so he had publicly pledged to perform at the top floor of the Junk Palace, which was said to be the most dangerous building in the Lower City.

It was a place so messed up that, although it was a rumor bordering on urban legend, there were whispers of EPSB patrols dying in action within 5 minutes of entering Junk Palace.

Up to that point, for someone of his standing, it was a level that could be sufficiently resolved by hiring a private security firm, and most guys would quietly stay put knowing what would happen if they messed with him, a mega influencer and beloved musician. But the problem was that he was a member of a club that favored heavy implants and was a close friend of Ricardo “Belo” Sanchez, the leader of Hellstream.

That fact had offended Juworld, a group formed by bioware fanatics who were sworn enemies of Hellstream, who felt exhilaration from slathering themselves with cyberware and modifying it.

Normally, it wouldn’t matter since they operated in the safe Upper City where Juworld couldn’t enter, but since he announced a performance in the Lower City—specifically, in Junk Palace—they reportedly sent murder threats as if they had been waiting for the opportunity.

A normal person would cancel the concert, but as if his courage was no joke, the mega influencer decided to push through, choosing to receive protection from a private security firm and Hellstream.

And so, through the recommendation of his closest brother, Ricardo “Belo” Sanchez, he got in touch with Rune’s Bar.

“This is how things are. What I want isn’t particularly the eradication of Juworld; I just want to not disappoint my fans as a musician.”

“You’re quite bold.”

In the end, all we had to do was stop any extremely impure muscleheads if they tried to barge in.

Moreover, since we were being deployed as insurance while defenses were already solid, it might be a rather relaxed request.