Ch 15
NEYMAR
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Episode 15
After leaving the training hall, I headed to a tavern on the bustling street in front of my lodgings.
It was the same place I’d been digging for information every night.
But today, my objective wasn’t information.
‘The problem is, I’m out of money.’
Between my recent expenses and the effects of inflation, I had spent most of the gold coins I’d taken from the hideout.
What little I had left would be gone after buying what I needed today.
In short, I was flat broke.
I was here today to solve this problem before entering the Magic Tower.
‘So it is open.’
True to its claim of being open 24 hours, light was spilling from the tavern’s interior, even though it was still early evening.
I walked in without hesitation, and the owner greeted me with a familiar air.
“Here early today, are we?”
The place was usually crowded, but for now, I was the only customer.
As I took a seat at the bar, the owner brought over a menu and asked, “The usual beer?”
I waved his offer away gently.
“I’m not here for a drink today.”
“Oh? Then what?”
“It’s about what you mentioned a few days ago.”
“A few days ago? Ah…”
The owner’s expression turned serious.
“You’ve decided to do it?”
“Yes.”
“…Good. You made the right choice. I had a feeling our paths would cross like this. Follow me.”
The owner stood before a display case lined with expensive liquor.
I wondered why he’d led me here, but I soon understood.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
When he pushed the display case, a wide-open, hidden space was revealed.
‘So there was a place like this.’
A barrier to prevent intruders was cast over the entrance, and inside, a staircase led down to a basement.
Usually, such facilities were set up in a separate location, but it seemed this one was built right into the tavern’s basement.
The owner handed me a scrap of copper-colored paper.
“This is your permit. It may not look like much, but it’ll let you pass through the barrier here.”
“So it’s an Artifact,” I noted.
“That’s right. Take this, go downstairs, and pass a simple test. Then you can do the work you’re looking for. Are you ready?”
“Of course.”
I gave him a nod and was about to enter when the owner added casually, “Oh, and by the way, I’ve heard the old-timers in there can be pretty rough on newcomers. You’d better be prepared.”
“Ah, a welcoming party…”
It wasn’t going to be a problem.
That sort of thing happens everywhere you go.
“Don’t worry about it.”
The owner nodded in response, and I started down the stairs.
Just as he’d said, I passed through the barrier without any resistance.
It must have been enchanted with soundproofing magic, because loud noises from below began to reach my ears.
It sounded like they’d already started drinking.
Soon, I entered a wide-open room. The noise cut off abruptly as every eye in the place turned to me.
“What’s with this scrawny guy?”
“How’d he get in here?”
It was definitely not a welcoming atmosphere.
Just looks of displeasure.
But I couldn’t let them intimidate me in a place like this.
I met their gazes coolly and pretended not to notice as I surveyed my surroundings.
The space was the same size as the tavern above, with a similar interior.
The only differences were the lack of windows and the dim, purplish lighting that created a darker mood.
“…Never seen you before.”
The one who spoke to me in a calm voice was a woman with dark black hair and tan skin.
She seemed like someone I could reason with, so I spoke up.
“I’m here for work.”
“Your permit?”
I waved the copper paper scrap the owner had given me.
The woman gave a slight nod and patted the seat next to her.
“Sit here for now.”
Once I sat down, the woman poured me a glass of whiskey.
When I didn’t touch it, she spoke first.
“This is interesting. It’s rare for someone to come with a direct recommendation from Lior.”
“…Lior?”
“The tavern owner upstairs.”
“Ah.”
“What’s your secret?”
“…I don’t know. I haven’t really done anything.”
“Is that so?”
Gurgle—.
The woman filled her own glass, took a sip, and continued.
“The work we do is broadly divided into two types. Simply put, one is bounty hunting, and the other is information gathering. Which do you want to do?”
“I don’t really care, but if I had to choose, bounty hunting sounds better.”
“Bounty hunting requires a certain level of skill…”
“Not a problem.”
“Hmm, you sound confident.”
“Enough not to get killed.”
“Alright.”
The woman pushed her glass aside, leaned forward, and said, “But even with Lior’s recommendation, you can’t start working right away. We need to run a few verifications. That’s fine, right?”
“Verifications?”
“It won’t be too difficult.”
This must be the “simple test” the owner had mentioned.
I nodded in understanding, and the woman handed me a piece of paper.
It was a wanted poster with a sketch of a man in a fedora.
“His name is Shane. He’s famous for turning into an animal when he drinks. A warrant for his arrest was issued three months ago on a murder charge.”
“So I just have to bring this man in?”
“Within the limits of your abilities. Catch him if you can, or just gather information if that’s all you can manage. The most important thing is not to get caught by the city patrol. That would cause a lot of trouble.”
“How is this any different from a real job?”
Just then.
“Hey, kiddo.”
One of the guys who had been listening from behind slid into the seat next to me.
He was a man whose face was half-covered in a coarse beard.
A scar on his forehead made his expression even more menacing.
“Are you comparing catching some neighborhood punk to what we do? People’s lives are on the line here. This isn’t a place to be taken lightly.”
“…”
“Do you have any idea how many fearless punks like you have shown up here only to disappear without a trace? If you value your life, get the hell out. Don’t get greedy.”
When the man finished, I could hear snickering from behind him.
It felt like I was being bullied.
From experience, I knew it was best to come on strong in situations like this.
It was then that the dark-haired woman tried to stop the man.
“Felix, that’s enough.”
“This racket is killing me.”
“…What did you say?”
Without another word, I began to draw the mana from my surroundings.
At the same time, I focused my will.
The image I conjured was an electric current.
Crackle—!
A flash of electricity lit up the dim interior.
That was all I did.
No further action, no more words.
But it was more than enough.
“Wh-what…?”
“A-a wizard?”
“Fuck… he’s a wizard? That scrawny bastard?”
The man next to me just gaped, dumbfounded, while the ones behind him started stammering.
With things more or less settled, I turned back to the woman.
“Where do I take the man once I catch him?”
“Huh? Ah… just bring him to our shop through that back door over there.”
“Do you have anything I can use for tracking?”
“…Here, I’ll give you a lock of his hair. This is a recent request, so you’ll have to find the rest of what you need yourself.”
After receiving the well-sealed lock of hair, I stood up from my seat.
Naturally, my eyes met with the guys who had been laughing behind me.
Their expressions were completely different from before.
Once again, I was reminded of the status wizards held in this world.
I gave them a faint smile and left.
In the game, the way a [Request Office] worked was simple.
It took on requests from other NPCs and distributed them to players, operating on the commission it received from the rewards.
It was similar to a [Guild], but the main difference was that a [Request Office] was, in the context of the world, illegal.
In exchange, it offered players a much larger cut of the rewards.
‘Perfect for someone like me who needs cash fast.’
Moreover, unlike a [Guild], which meticulously ranked its members based on various factors like identity, reputation, and skill, a [Request Office] only cared about one thing: ‘skill.’
Simply put, the more skilled you were, the better quests and higher profits you could get.
In that sense, this moment was crucial.
This first request, given under the pretense of a verification test, would determine my standing here from now on.
I had to make an impact.
“…I’ll solve this as quickly as possible.”
The method I chose was to leave a good impression in terms of ‘time.’
The faster I completed the task, the more I could prove my skill.
Because of that…
“…”
My pouch of gold coins was now completely empty.
In my haste to solve the request quickly, I had spent every last coin.
‘Think positive. This is an investment.’
What I had spent all my gold on at the market was this.
An Artifact, [Path of Pursuit].
It was a single-use Artifact with the ability to track a target using the user’s mana.
The single-use limitation was a drawback, but for tracking purposes in the early game, there was nothing better.
I unrolled the scroll-shaped [Path of Pursuit] on the ground and placed the lock of hair on top of it.
Then, I channeled my mana into it.
Wooooong.
The Artifact seemed to react to my mana, vibrating intensely.
Soon, a thin wisp of shimmering haze rose from the wanted man’s hair.
Ssssss.
The shimmering haze extended and began to move, leading me somewhere.
It was guiding me to the hair’s owner, the wanted man, Shane.
It was something I had seen often in the game, but seeing it in person was a different feeling.
“Let’s go.”
I got up and followed the wisp of haze.
After about an hour.
I reached the end of the haze and found a man I presumed to be Shane.
He was in a dark alleyway, taking deep drags from a cigarette.
I observed him from a distance first.
“Haaah… why the hell do I have to hide like this? What’s the big deal about killing one piece of trash?”
Through the billowing smoke, I could see his face.
Thinning hair, gray pupils, sagging cheeks, a blunt nose.
He was a perfect match for the wanted poster.
Crackle—!
I immediately cloaked myself in lightning magic.
The moment my legs tensed, I was instantly in front of him.
“Wh-what the!”
THUD!
“Kuh-heok!”
The man, struck hard in the abdomen, doubled over and retched.
After a long moment, he lifted his head.
“F-fucking hell… who are you?”
His eyes were filled with murderous intent.
But it was a look that couldn't hide his fear.
I answered calmly.
“What do you think? I’m here for the bounty.”
“A bounty hunter…?”
There was no need to drag this out.
I channeled lightning into the blade of my right hand and chopped the back of his neck.
“Ugh!”
The man’s eyes rolled back as he collapsed.
I slung the unconscious man over my shoulder and started running again.
At full speed, enhanced with lightning magic.
One and a half hours after leaving the Request Office.
Everything was going according to plan.
After Yuhan left, the Artis Request Office returned to its noisy, bustling atmosphere.
Of course, the topic of conversation had changed slightly.
“Did you see that earlier? He looked at us like we were bugs.”
“Fuck, so he’s a wizard.”
“Why are all those wizard bastards such arrogant pricks?”
“Is this really the time to be talking about that? We’re about to lose our livelihoods.”
All eyes turned to one man.
The one who had drawn their attention was Felix, the man who had been talking smack next to Yuhan earlier.
“What are you talking about?”
Felix glanced at the man who asked the question and continued.
“You all saw it. His magic. No matter how you look at it, he’s no amateur.”
“Hmm… his magic lacked experience, but he definitely seemed that way.”
“He’s bound to be skilled. That means he’ll hog all the good requests that come in from now on. Are you just going to stand by and watch that happen?”
“…So what do you suggest?”
“Let’s teach him a lesson. All of us together.”
“What…?”
The unexpected proposal stunned the others, but Felix pressed on.
“It’s either he leaves or we leave. One or the other. So we have to do something.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“No matter how much of a wizard he is, what can he do against our numbers? Let’s just jump him and beat the crap out of him.”
“Hmm.”
Even those who had been with Felix for years hesitated to answer.
The idea of fighting a wizard was that intimidating.
Just then, one man tentatively raised his hand.
“I’m in. If we ambush him when he comes back from the verification, we might have a chance. He’ll be low on stamina, too.”
“Good, Gerun.”
With that, the others who had been hesitating began to raise their hands, one by one.
“…I’m in, too. How long have we struggled to survive here? I can’t just watch some wizard waltz in and ruin everything.”
“Hmph… alright, let’s do it. It’s not like he’ll kill us, right?”
“Tch, I guess I have no choice but to join in.”
“Alright! That’s more like it!”
Watching his unified comrades, Felix raised his glass with a grin.
They all vowed to teach that arrogant wizard a lesson. Just as their glasses clinked in a toast…
Knock, knock, knock—.
Someone was knocking on the back door.
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