episode_0001

A different world where swords and magic dance in harmony.

How would you feel if you fell there?

In exchange for entering this world, you received great abilities?

Congratulations. You can use that ability to make a fuss and live the way you want.

You don’t have great skills, but what if you were a former hotel chef?

You can open a restaurant based on your cooking skills. Once your name is known, you can become a chef at a place where a high-ranking person lives.

Also, what if you graduated from an engineering school somewhere like Harvard or Oxford and are good at mechanical engineering?

It is time for the industrial revolution. Carve the hot taste of fever weapons into the heads of barbarian knights and wizards.

But, what if… you don’t have any great abilities, no differentiating skills like cooking skills, or even practical knowledge?

What happens?

That’s how I look.

* * *

-Kkokkiyek!!

The sound of a chicken crowing. My eyes opened reflexively.

“Is it already morning? Damn.”

The shitty day started with a yawn. I stretched and stood up.

I roughly shook off my frizzy hair with my hands and washed my face with water from the water basin.

We are ready to go. I left the old cabin and headed to the square.

Even though the sun is still rising, there are quite a few people in the square. Most of them are people who open stores.

I sat down in a place with a clear view of the square.

From now on, it is time for patience. I took out the dry weight and put it in my mouth.

“…Fuck.”

It was a taste that made me swear. It’s hard, stuffy, and tasteless. However, it is cheap and high in calories. If it weren’t for that, there would be no reason to eat this.

I forgot my dry food and waited for people to gather in the square.

After about an hour, armed guards began moving around little by little.

After about 3 hours, people gathered in the square. These were people who were passing by or who came to buy items at the store.

“It decreased quite a bit today.”

There were fewer people gathered in the square than last time.

Is it because the festival ended a while ago?

I put my regrets aside and observed them closely, looking for prey.

Prey, of course, meant someone who would pick off their pockets.

There are several rules for choosing this prey.

The person who robbed first will not rob again. If you get robbed once, you might think it was unlucky and move on, but if you get robbed twice, you will think you were ignored and will try to catch you and get rid of you somehow.

The second is to avoid people who are often seen in the square. Unless you’re going to get pickpocketed once or twice, it’s better not to touch it.

The third is similar to the second, targeting tourists as much as possible. As there are many things to enjoy in the city, there are also many tourists, and it is easy to attract tourists and the income is good.

“Okay.”

I found a good person.

It was a man dressed neatly and wearing a brimmed hat.

I hadn’t seen him in the two years I’d been living in this city, and from the way he was dressed, I thought he had a lot of money.

I walked slowly and followed him. I waited for him to buy something and expose his wallet.

But as if he had read my mind, the man had no intention of buying anything.

‘Ac, I guess I was just passing by.’

Just when I was about to give up trying to follow the man, the man stopped in front of a fruit shop.

I returned the steps I was about to take, walked as slowly as possible, and stared at the man.

The man tried to negotiate the price with the store owner, but when it didn’t work out, he sighed and took out his wallet.

I looked carefully at where he took out his wallet and where he put it in.

‘Left waist.’

The man had his wallet tied with a string to his left waist.

After checking the location of my wallet, I quickly walked past him. And then I naturally turned around and walked back.

The man and I ended up walking in opposite directions.

The moment I passed by him, my hand moved like lightning.

He held the wallet with his right hand and cut the string with the dagger in his left hand.

Because it had been mastered through hundreds of repetitions, the man did not notice at all. I put my wallet in my pocket and walked out into the alley.

“Let’s see, how much is in it…”

It contained three 5-cooper coins and five 1-cooper coins.

“20 Cooper? It’s awesome.”

Usually, if you empty your pockets, the more you get out, the more you get 5 copper, and the less you get, it’s 1 copper.

He made more than four profits from just one pickpocketing.

It was truly a hit.

I couldn’t help but raise the corners of my mouth and put the Coopers in my wallet. And as I was about to leave the alley-

“It was here. I was looking for you.”

An unpleasant voice came from behind me. I clicked my tongue and turned to face back.

Calix, a man with a mean look, approached.

“Isn’t it too early to pay the down payment?”

In order to make a living doing illegal work in this city, you had to pay a bribe to a gangster organization called the ‘Masked Gang.’

I couldn’t avoid it either, so I had to pay a huge amount of 2 silver every month as repayment.

Calix is an errand boy who collects payment from me.

“That’s right, it’s still early.”

“Then what brought you here?”

“Can’t I just come visit you?”

“Uh. No way.”

Calix kept acting friendly towards me. During that time, I will take care of my peers.

“Don’t say anything strange, just get to the point.”

“Yeah, I was thinking of doing that anyway.”

Calix nodded and said.

“Have you been to Kalita?”

“Kalita?”

Kalita was the name of a city about two days away from this city.

“Why are you there?”

“It’s the boss’ order. Deliver this letter. So you should go to Kalita with me.”

Calix put the letter between his fingers and shook it.

“Please deliver the letter?”

“Okay, just deliver it to the boss’ younger brother in Kalita. It’s easy, right?”

“It’s easy. But why do I do that? There are people like you too.”

“Takakari, they are my friends. And those friends have separate things to do”

“What else should I do? Don’t hide it, tell it all.”

“If you want.”

Calix shrugged his shoulders.

“Did you know that a new organization recently came to this city?”

Know.

Still, the slums were shaken for a while because of that. I heard that there is a place that sells drugs cheaper than the mask group.

I heard that there was definitely a girl with pink hair, a girl with short hair, and a guy using a small dagger.

“Do three people count as an organization?”

“No, three people are not considered an organization.”

“There are three I heard. So are you saying that they created an organization or something?”

“Yes. We also created an organization with over 20 members.”

I was dumbfounded by Calix’s words.

It’s been less than two weeks since I heard the story of those three, and they’ve already created an organization with over 20 members?

“What did the leader of the mask group do without them?”

“There was a new guard captain this time, right? I couldn’t pay attention because I was getting to know the new guard captain.”

“Then you can ask the guard captain to wipe out those guys, right? It’s good for the security guard to have good results, and it’s also good for the boss to not have any troublemakers.”

“It would have been easiest to do as you said. But what, the new guard captain was this woman… what was her name… Oh yeah, Roxy. It looks like he has a connection with Roxy.”

“It has been a while since the security captain was changed. But you have connections?”

“My words! The guard commander suddenly changed. Roxy is connected to the guard captain. Doesn’t it smell like something bad?”

Calix said exaggeratedly.

Although his tone was a little annoying, my thoughts were similar to Calix’s.

In less than two weeks since he appeared, an organization has been formed and the guard leader has changed drastically.

It seems unlikely to be a coincidence.

“Well, that’s why the boss took a hard line.”

“Strong measures?”

Calix looked around to make sure no one was there and spoke in a serious tone.

“War.”

“Crazy.”

War.

At best, it is a grandiose word applied to a fight between organizations that sell drugs.

But there is a reason for using that word.

These gangsters don’t know how to moderate once a fight breaks out. They fight until one side is destroyed.

Thanks to this, when a war broke out between organizations, the slums were literally devastated.

If I’m not careful, I could end up like that too. When I thought about that, my face automatically frowned.

“Phew… Okay, so the letter you have to deliver is a request for reinforcements, right?”

“Uh. Just give it to the boss’s brother in Kalita. Then they will send someone on their own.”

I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. I organized my thoughts a little.

But no matter how much I thought about it, there was something I couldn’t understand.

“Good. I understand everything. But I don’t know why I have to go to Kalita? Like I said before, you can go with your subordinate. Even if you have work to do, it doesn’t mean you’re all busy.”

Calix had seven followers. How could they all be busy?

Calix answered my question with his signature evil smile.

“Everyone is busy. Because what I have to do is very important.”

“Something important? What are you doing at this time… Hey, you can’t believe it…”

Suddenly, a bad thought crossed my mind.

As if to confirm that thought, Calix smiled and clasped my shoulder.

“Let’s meet at the eastern gate early tomorrow morning, before sunrise.”

Calix tapped my shoulder a couple of times, then turned and walked out of the alley.

I frowned and looked at the back.

“What are friends…”

The people you sold out to get ahead are your friends.

There is a degree to which you can lay an iron plate on your conscience.

I shook my head and walked out of the alley.

* * *

Since my conversation with Calix, two more people’s pockets have been emptied.

The total profit earned in that way was 30 copper.

It was a huge profit compared to the average income of 15 coppers.

I put my slightly heavy wallet in my arms and walked towards the cabin I was staying at.

The sun was already setting, and there was not a single smile on the faces of the people illuminated by the glow of the sunset.

A completely different atmosphere from the lively square.

It was a slum as usual.

“If a war breaks out here…”

In the past, a war between organizations occurred only once.

At that time, if you walked 10 steps in the slums, you would see a new body.

“I guess I’ll have to stay at the inn for a while.”

If you stay at an inn, you will be able to avoid dangerous situations. It is a backworld organization. No matter how grandiose it is, they are ultimately criminals.

We’re leaving them alone because they’re living in the slums, but if they start messing around in other areas, the guards won’t be quiet.

“Ah, but the inn is expensive.”

The cheapest inn costs 3 copper per day. Meals are separate.

The thought of spending money made my face tense up.

“The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Why are those bastards making such a mess here…”

I resented a woman named Roxy whose face I didn’t even know. There are villages and cities all over the place, so why come here?

As I walked, swearing about Roxy in my mind, I arrived at the cabin.

I opened the cabin door.

A dark interior, devoid of any trace of warmth, greeted me.

I went inside, which I was now used to, and laid down. I didn’t forget to bolt the door.

As I lay down on the cold floor and looked at the dark ceiling…

“That sucks.”

I was moved and felt sad. I impulsively pulled out the dagger and pointed it at my neck.

I felt the sharp blade of the sword on my thin skin. If you give it strength like this…

“Fuck you. Quit it. I can’t do it anyway.”

He threw away the dagger. I wonder how many times this has happened.

I lit the bonfire and closed my eyes. My shitty day came to an end again.

And the next day.

“Are you here? It’s a little late.”

A new shitty day has begun.