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Chapter 8

Inside a dark room, a holographic projection of a glamorous-looking woman laughed.

[Hahaha! How long has it been since you moved, and now you’re moving again? Are your credits rotting away?]

“It’s not like I completely moved! …I just bought another one.”

Weary from the banter, Catherine leaned her head back.

A ceiling of clean, or rather, plain design naturally came into view.

‘…It’s really narrow.’

Given the nature of being a mercenary, Catherine had to travel around a lot.

Because of that, she had multiple bases in different areas.

From junkyards to Neon City, she had gone through many homes.

But no matter what, this house felt a bit too cramped.

‘…What’s so great about living in such a small house?’

Thinking of a certain mage, Catherine pondered.

[That’s it, you crazy woman.]

“I just wanted to establish another base.”

[Oh, I see. Is that so?]

The person on the other end of the hologram call kept smiling.

Catherine wasn’t pleased with the response, but having dealt with such reactions for days, she was accustomed to ignoring it.

[You called me during my live time, so I thought something was up.]

“…I just wanted to talk. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

[This seems more like counseling, don’t you think, my friend?]

“….”

A curse mixed with insults almost slipped out of Catherine’s mouth.

She refrained because, truth be told, the statement wasn’t entirely incorrect.

Catherine calmed her anger quietly.

[By the way, what happened to the person who lived in that house before? …Don’t tell me.]

“I didn’t kill anyone! …I just paid more credits and had them evicted.”

This was the reason why acquiring this small room indeed required more credits than the average market price.

‘…But where the hell did that bastard run off to?’

But the reality that the main culprit who enabled her to acquire the house had run away again left Catherine with a headache.

The hologram woman, sensing Catherine’s discomfort, laughed again.

[Oh, really. You keep pushing, but the other party doesn’t seem to notice. Maybe you should be more proactive?]

“…Forget it. I’ll handle it my way. Besides, lately, he’s been trying to distance himself from me abruptly, so I’m being cautious, thinking there might be something going on.”

Indeed, it was true.

For reasons unknown, Lee Shiwoon had been noticeably distancing himself from Catherine, and even his other colleagues, more frequently.

[Why don’t you ask him later when you get the chance? I’m curious too…]

“Sure, I will.”

Why the sudden urge to flee? Catherine’s conscience also lengthened due to concerns that didn’t suit her.

[Oh, damn.]

“What?”

[Turn on NCB News Channel 4 right now.]

“Why? What’s going on?”

Thinking it wasn’t the time for watching news, Catherine complied with the other person’s request and turned on the news program.

A new screen interface appeared opposite the hologram in the air.

《We are currently at the scene where the extreme eco-fascist group ‘Eco Warriors’ is occupying a cafe in North Houston.》

“What’s this? Just regular news.”

[Keep watching.]

It didn’t seem like a big deal for terrorists to appear in Neon City.

Catherine continued to watch the news without much interest.

《We are currently showing the interior footage of the cafe being provided by the terrorists. Many citizens of Neon City are being held hostage.》

“…Huh?”

Why is he there?

[Haha! Look at that guy’s expression. He’s not even showing any signs of distress. He’s just sitting there, separate from the hostages.]

The person on the hologram call chuckled. But the voice did not reach Catherine’s ears.

“I’m cutting this off.”

[Huh?]

– Click!

Soon, her image disappeared from the room. In place of the entrance, only traces of the door remained.

* * *

And so, in the present…

“You bastards! The ones who grabbed my friend!!”

…How did she even know about this place?

I waved my hand as if forgetting the fact that I was firmly grabbed by an orc terrorist.

At the same time, her gaze turned to me.

– Crash, thump!!

I couldn’t see what happened.

The sound of something tearing and falling.

I could only feel a faint breeze passing near my face.

Given the circumstances, it was clear that the orc behind me had fallen, there was one strange thing.

The sensation of the orc’s grip on my back hadn’t gone away yet.

I glanced back subtly.

I saw an orc lying there, its hand torn off and writhing in agony on the ground.

…Are you alright?

I gently moved my hand, removed the orc’s hand (now an independent entity) from the back of my neck, and placed it gently on the ground.

Then the remaining orc’s hand continued to twitch, spewing bodily fluids and blood.

Catherine spoke to me in an urgent voice.

“Are you okay?”

“…Yeah, I am?”

“…Phew.”

This time, I asked Catherine, who breathed a sigh of relief.

“But how did you know about this place?”

Catherine pointed to the camera with her chin.

Ah, the camera.

Well, since it was being broadcasted, I guess she must’ve seen me

I thought once again.

I thought there might be a tracker implanted in me.

Just as we were peacefully chatting as if we were on an outing…

“This bitch!!”

The orc terrorists, who belatedly realized the absurd situation, shouted.

It was natural for them to start shooting simultaneously.

I lowered my stance and took a defensive posture.

I drew mana, planning to block only the bullets flying towards me.

Anyway, since she had appeared.

I would have nothing to do.

She—Catherine—moved along with the gunshots.

She deflected the pouring bullets with just one palm, like rainwater.

Her movement speed was several times faster than others.

It was due to cyberware neural acceleration.

Starting from the specs of the implants installed in her body, she was different.

To the orc terrorists, she was like a sudden natural disaster.

Catherine, who had blocked the raining bullets in one cycle, continued to move.

With one kick, she shattered their abdomens.

With one punch, she broke their necks, causing them to foam at the mouth.

She also snatched the gun from the opponents and fired it back.

Every time she pulled the trigger, blood poured out from where they weren’t wearing body armor.

Barely a few seconds had passed.

Everything was over.

This wasn’t even enough to call it a fight for Catherine.

“Who uses such outdated guns these days.”

Throwing away the assault rifle she had used, Catherine relaxed.

All the terrorists were either dead or unable to even groan.

As expected of the protagonist.

“Let’s go home.”

“…Yeah, let’s.”

Hmm.

If I tried to escape from here again, she would go crazy, right?

I restrained myself from imagining how badly I would be beaten if I actually acted.

At that moment, one of the fallen orcs got up with difficulty.

Wow, that guy over there.

Wasn’t he the one who got punched and broke his neck?

How is he still alive?

“…If it weren’t for the exoskeleton, I would have died on the spot.”

I see.

Catherine, with a slight furrow in her brow, looked back at the orc.

Her weight shifted forward. She looked like she was about to fly towards the orc and kick him at any moment.

But when the orc spoke through the pain, everyone’s movements (including the hostages in the corner) stopped.

“Cough, everyone stop!! I just activated the time bomb!”

The orc removed the tarp that was on the equipment.

One of the pieces of equipment that I couldn’t figure out earlier.

Because it was covered with a tarp.

When the tarp was removed, it revealed a design that looked like a real bomb.

Out of the blue, what’s with the time bomb?

On the equipment’s black screen, white numbers were decreasing little by little. It was the countdown.

Remaining time… 3 minutes?

What are we supposed to do if we’re not given enough time?

“I never intended to use this bomb! It’s all because of you guys! This whole building is going to blow up!”

“If you were planning to blow it up anyway, it wouldn’t matter if you died, right?”

“…Huh?”

And that was the orc’s final words.

Catherine wiped her blood-stained hands on a cloth she found somewhere.

“Hey, what do we do now? Should we run away?”

Well, considering the state of the orc terrorists, they weren’t reasonable enough to be persuaded.

It was better to deal with them directly before they caused more problems, rather than wasting time trying to persuade them.

“Why not hack it?”

“I’m not a hacker or a machine expert like ‘Drek,’ how can I? I don’t even have the equipment right now. And besides, just looking at it, the security lock seems thick, so I probably can’t even touch it.”

Catherine, fearless as she was, casually kicked the ticking bomb with her foot.

Honestly, it didn’t matter if we ran away.

Although the orc terrorists said so, the bomb wouldn’t really explode because of us.

But anyone who couldn’t evacuate the building within 3 minutes would end up with life insurance.

We couldn’t be sure of the bomb’s power, but if we thought about the orc terrorist’s words about the entire building blowing up, the surrounding damage could be severe.

Even if we wanted to do something, we didn’t have the means.

As time passed.

In the end, I was about to suggest to Catherine that we should run away.

[There is no choice, I confess.]

“Huh?”

[I am initiating hacking. …Complete. The bomb has been stopped.]

“Huh?”

“Did you go crazy by yourself?”

No.

I checked the bomb just in case.

The time on the bomb really stopped.

Catherine, who couldn’t hear Eve’s voice, unaware of what had happened, looked at the bomb following my gaze and asked.

“What is this? How did it stop?”

“…Uh, well… I studied it a little.”

First, I lied in order to get over the situation.

No, maybe it just stopped on its own.

But I couldn’t take back the lie I had already told.

“I’m amazed, aren’t you supposed to be a mage or something? Heroes don’t study, right? You said you didn’t even learn hacking.”

“…I’ll spare you the details.”

I turned away from Catherine, who was full of questions.

What was important now wasn’t to justify myself to Catherine.

Eve.

A somewhat special AI.

Even though network connection wasn’t possible.

How did she attempt and succeed in ‘hacking’?

Catherine moved to check what the orcs had, saying she would take a quick look.

Maybe because she’s the main character, she liked rooting around.

I seized the opportunity and whispered softly.

“…Let’s talk about it later.”

[…I understand.]

Suddenly, my head started to hurt.

More than the appearance of the terrorists, the headache was more bothersome.

While I was holding my head and contemplating.

The NCPD team arrived at the cafe.

…They came in pretty quickly.

They glanced around before walking towards us.

“This is the NCPD. Could you explain the situation?”

Didn’t they already see everything on the camera?

The cameras brought by the terrorists would have continued filming.

And Catherine’s move and resolution of the situation must have been broadcast.

[I hacked that too, I confess.]

…Well.

In that case, they might not know.

“It’s as you see.”

“So you two neutralized all the terrorists…?”

“No. I didn’t do anything. It was my friend over there.”

Catherine, who seemed to have finished searching through the pockets of the orcs, walked over to us from another direction.

“What’s going on again?”

“This is the NCPD. Excuse me, but could I see your ID?”

Just as I said that only one person alone had neutralized all the terrorists, the expression of the NCPD officer changed.

Catherine pulled out a card from her pocket.

It wasn’t a biometric ID provided by the city.

It was issued by a corporation. Corporate IDs are made in card format to prevent forgery and hacking.

The expression on the NCPD officer’s face changed noticeably upon receiving the ID.”

“…Confirmed. Catherine Lee. You’re free to leave the scene.”

Behind the voice of the NCPD officer, another NCPD officer, who looked like a subordinate, raised his voice.

“Senior! We still need to investigate…”

“…Just shut up.”

“Yes?”

“Have you never seen a Monolith Corps Level 1 ID? …It’s not something that just anyone can carry around.”

“…Oh.”

I heard what he said quietly, even though he lowered his voice.

By the way, I have one of those too.

Why didn’t they check mine?

“Should I show my ID too?”

“No. You can leave with your companion.”

It felt somewhat disappointing.

Why didn’t they check mine…

Catherine, with a familiar expression, took the ID handed to her by the NCPD officer.

I said to her,

“Let’s go home now.”

“…No. Let’s just go and have some fun together since we’re already out. Are you coming?”

“…It’s troublesome.”

Hmm.

I looked at Catherine with a dilemma.

Her golden eyes sparkled.

…It’s hard to refuse because she’s so pretty.

Even though she saved me from the terrorists, and we wouldn’t be wandering around all day.

If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it, they say.

“All right then.”

“Great! Follow me.”

It had been quite a while since the two of us went out together.

…It even felt like a date.

‘I feel strange lately. It’s not like we’re in that kind of relationship.’

I suppressed the unnecessary excitement in my heart.

….

….

It really wasn’t.

…A date is nonsense.

What we did together was as follows.

Check out the new products at the firearms store, look for combat implants at the implant store, shoot randomly at the shooting range, browse illegal weapons at the underground market, etc.

Besides, I was dragged around all day.

…Yeah, what date.

It’s my fault for expecting too much.

What’s so good about it anyway?

Catherine herself looked very happy.

That’s how the day came to an end.

* * *

And the next day.

“I’m fucked.”

I said as I looked at the blue graph going through the floor and into the basement.

My stocks (what used to be) went down.

It was summer.