Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed

I let out a sigh, which had turned into a habit, comforting my pitiful self.

“…sigh.”

……I just want to go home.

Thinking of my home back in Korea and the shabby one-room place in the Lower-Class Area, my mind wandered.

At least I’m glad I’m wearing a mask.

At least my sighs won’t be visible in the cold air.

Normally, I would have come here with Catherine, or Drake, or Andrea.

Why did I end up coming here alone?

From my perspective, it made no sense.

I tried to recall for a moment.

The hulking Dwarf, Drake, had implored me.

– ‘…What can I do? I was going to refuse too, but it was the boss of No Answer who asked me directly.’

Honestly, I understood Drake’s position.

I wouldn’t have had the courage to refuse if I were in his shoes.

Of course, that’s that, and this is this.

I complained to the apologetic Drake in a grumbling tone about my own weakness.
– ‘No, do you really think it’s reasonable for someone as weak as me to go there alone? I almost got shaken down by a local scavenger just last night.’
– ‘Ah, I guess that’s why. I heard those scavengers in that area are dropping from the sky.’
– ‘……’

I failed to plead my case.

Drake continued in a calm tone.
– ‘But after listening to the gist, it doesn’t sound like a big deal.’
– ‘…Really?’
– ‘But don’t forget to take this.’

I received a small device that Drake handed to me.
– ‘What’s this?’
– ‘A signal emitter.’
– ‘…So you say it’s not a big deal?’
– ‘Just in case.’
– ‘……’

Anyway, that’s how I ended up coming all the way here.

… I really don’t want to go in.

Thinking that, I slowly shuffled my feet towards the intermediary, ‘No Answer.’

It’s already been a few years.

The building from the game I saw a long time ago stood right in front of me, intact.

If I had known this would happen, I should’ve played the game a bit more seriously. No, I should have just not chosen the Wizard character in the first place. No, if that’s the case, I shouldn’t have thought about raising a new character from the start─.

“Mr. Shun, right?”

A heavy voice interrupted my thoughts.

When I lifted my head from staring at the ground, an ominously imposing Orc was looking down at me.

Every time I see him, he scares me.

I instinctively bowed my head slightly to greet him.

“Oh, yes. Um, right. Mr. Smith, correct?”

“The boss is waiting. Let’s go up.”

“……”

So unnecessarily stiff.

Although it hadn’t been long since we introduced ourselves, I honestly felt like I could never become friends with this person, no matter how much time passed.

First of all, he looks scary.

I grumbled inwardly and followed his heavy footsteps.

—

Chapter 33: A Wrong Answer Known to One

The loud club music relentlessly attacked my ears.
As we stepped onto the first floor, countless mercenaries’ eyes fell on me.

If I’d come in alone, wouldn’t I have been picked a fight with?

But luckily, Smith (serious, scary-looking Orc) was with me.

How reassuring it is to have an ally by my side.

I pretended to be nonchalant and kept walking naturally behind Smith.

Smith guided me to the front of a large elevator.

As the elevator doors opened, Smith placed his wrist on the scanner at the entrance.
【Destination: 3rd Floor.】

With the mechanical voice, my destination was activated.

To break the ice a bit, I muttered as if to myself.
“Oh, I was wondering how to get to the 3rd floor. So this is how it works.”

Of course, this wasn’t my first time going to the 3rd floor.

I had been up there in the game, and there were times I went up with my teammates while taking on quests in this city.

I mean, it’s just my first time having a private meeting with the boss.

I’d seen the boss before, but once again, as long as I didn’t quit being a mercenary, I would keep running into this person.

No need to be overly formal.

“There are various procedures besides just watching. So even if someone were to cut off my wrist, getting to the 3rd floor would be impossible.”

“……”

I wasn’t that curious about it.

Smith didn’t come inside the elevator with me; he guided me only to the elevator entrance.

As the elevator doors closed, I saw Smith bow his head gracefully from beyond them.

But he’s not a bad guy.

Not all Orcs are bad, after all.

But seriously, what kind of mission could warrant Smith—who is rumored to be directly under the boss—guiding me from the entrance?

…….

I don’t know.

I’ll just have to find out.

I took a long deep breath to try to ease my tension.

A moment later, the elevator doors slowly began to open.

……Would it be alright to just get off?

I stepped cautiously out of the elevator, keeping an eye on my surroundings.

In the center of the room was a giant sofa, and on it sat a woman with a sharp impression, deeply engrossed in her work.

She seemed to have a lot on her mind, with her fingers tapping incessantly on the table.

It didn’t take long for her gaze to turn toward me.

Her frozen blue eyes met mine.

“Hmm.”

The woman, the boss of No Answer, pressed the switch on her electronic cigarette. The smoke that spread like a fire vanished in an instant.

Having smoked continuously, the room was filled with a grayish-white cloud.

“Sorry about this. I have so much to think about that I didn’t even check the report that you’ve arrived.”

“…It’s fine.”

With just putting out a cigarette when someone enters, she ranked among the top 5% of smokers in Cyberpunk.

As the boss manipulated her vision interface, some ventilation system somewhere began operating.

Once I confirmed that all the smoke in the air had disappeared, I slowly took off my mask.

“Don’t just stand there, sit down.”

“Sure.”

It’s stressful.

I quickly moved to the seat in front of the boss.

The boss was busy, constantly checking electronic documents and her visual interface.

The first to break the silence was the boss.
“Funny, right?”

I didn’t make the foolish mistake of asking, “Huh? What’s funny?”

I just maintained a listening expression, silently gazing at the boss’s chin (looking into her eyes was too daunting).

“Having a charity party for the mercenary industry in the Upper-Class Area. Whoever thought of it must be a comedian.”

Am I supposed to laugh?

…….

No.

I focused on the boss’s words.

She seemed to want to explain the reason she called me.

“Isn’t it true? The upper-class citizens wouldn’t care less about the mercenary industry. What on earth are they thinking? It’s like pigs grunting away.”

The boss continued in a low voice.

“Usually, I’d ignore an invitation, but this time, the city has put pressure, making it hard to refuse.”

I slowly organized the information I just heard in my mind.

Mercenary industry, Upper-Class Area, charity party, pressure from the city.

…….

I cautiously asked the boss,
“…Do you think it will be dangerous?”

“About a 10% chance.”

The boss said while fiddling with her electronic cigarette.
“…But if the cost of a 10% risk is my life, then I have to prepare.”

So that’s why she called me─.

“Right. I’m going to bring security personnel, but to enter the party venue, I need to have someone accompany me.”

I thought to myself.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she read my mind.

I casually responded to the boss.
“Well, there are other good options besides me.”

“Unfortunately, there’s a physical modification level restriction for companions. Firearms and dangerous items are obviously prohibited.”

Then I thought I understood why this request came to me.

“Who else could you trust if you don’t trust a mercenary with a 100% success rate?”

“…That’s due to how excellent my other colleagues are….”

“Excuses end here. So what will you do?”

Hmm.

I tried to remember as much as I could.

Was there a similar incident in the game?

So far, I hadn’t encountered it as a quest.

For a quest this important, I surely wouldn’t have missed it.

…….

Maybe it’s been a few years.

I can’t remember it clearly.

Actually, I should have forgotten just about everything. It would be strange if I still remembered things that weren’t even part of a quest.

In the end, I had only one answer.

“…I guess so.”

My commoner tendencies were too strong to refuse a request from someone in power.

I should take this chance to save some emergency cash.

If it’s a request from the boss, the reward must be sweet.

I asked the boss a question alongside my answer.
“Is there anything specific I need to prepare?”

“No worries. The party outfit will be prepared from our side, and like I mentioned earlier, bringing firearms and dangerous goods is prohibited anyway.”

If it’s just my body I need to bring, that sounds even better.

I nodded in agreement.

The boss then slowly rose from her seat.
“Then shall we go?”

“Excuse me?”

I raised a question at her sudden remark.

What is this about suddenly…?

…….

No way.

—

*

“Honestly, I was really flustered at first.”
“Ha ha, I was in a hurry to find people too.”

Natasha replied with a laugh, gazing at me with softness not seen before.

Her gaze was slightly overwhelming.
I felt awkward and quickly changed the subject.
“Oh, by the way. What happened to the other intermediaries who invited you to the party back then?”

Natasha hid a smile on her lips.
That look had a trace of the coldness from before.
“What do you think happened?”
“…I guess I can tell without you saying it.”

Even though she wore that ridiculous teddy bear pajamas now, she was still the boss of No Answer.
…….
Where on earth did she buy those pajamas?
I shook my head slightly, recalling that day’s memories.

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