NOVEL NEXT Chapter 171
A dark space with not a single light.
A man busily tapping at his visual interface spoke to the woman sitting across from him.
“Oh? The virus connection got cut?”
“…That grandpa?”
The woman’s head tilted slightly in confusion.
The man couldn’t stop chuckling, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
“Well, it seemed like the effect was so intense that he completely short-circuited. I guess he had a backdoor vaccine. Suddenly, the signal got restored.”
With that, the man moved as if to share the content of his visual interface with the woman.
“Look at this. Right now, how’s the signal…?”
Contrary to the man’s flippant tone, the woman showed a dry, emotionless reaction.
“Forget it.”
“Oh, really?”
The man awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
Maybe he was used to being turned down; he didn’t seem to mind too much.
Just then, the man stood up from the old sofa. Only then did the woman’s gaze, which had been frozen, quietly move to him.
“…Should I go?”
There was a hint of worry in the woman’s voice.
“Of course, I should go take a look. I have to ask why they were looking for information on ‘Wizards’ in the first place.”
The man placed his hand on the head of the woman, who was calmly sitting still.
From the tip of his finger, a mechanical little finger popped out and playfully scratched the woman’s head.
“Don’t worry too much, okay?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then I’ll be off.”
The man headed out to find an old man who had caused quite a ruckus in the underground for quite some time.
—
…Hmm.
I tried to remain calm as much as I could.
In other words, I was trying to objectively analyze the current situation.
“…I’m glad you’re safe, Master.”
“Haha, what’s there to worry about? By the way, you’re the Guild Master─.”
“I was quite worried when I couldn’t contact you for a while. Are you comfortable at all?”
“Of course, I’m fine. So you’re the Guild─.”
“If something like this happened, you should have come up to the surface and told this ‘apprentice’ of yours.”
“No, I’m grateful just to know you care. So, just now you said you were the ‘Guild Master’ of the Warrior Craftsman Union, right?”
“……”
“……”
Can you believe he’s sticking to this question until the very end?
What a stubborn old man….
I may have recommended the Warrior class to Merlin (along with three other victims), but I honestly didn’t think it was a bad thing when judged objectively.
Warrior.
The true essence and pinnacle of party play.
In this game where raids have established themselves as core content, the importance of Warriors and Tanks is beyond compare.
Of course, there will be people saying Thieves are the best, or there might be an AI declaring Wizards are superior.
But I firmly believe Warriors are the strongest class.
Though there was a ‘minor issue’ that when I recommended them, there was no party content available, so the importance of Warriors was not high at that time.
Regardless, humans should always live looking at the present rather than the past.
In the current game, the Warrior was indeed the protagonist.
It was clear, even considering my personal feelings aside.
This was only further confirmed by the fact that the developer (Eve) was not buffing only Warriors.
However, even if I thought so, not everyone could see it the same way.
After all, people are emotional beings.
Logically knowing it’s not the case doesn’t spare someone from a subjective perspective.
I found a more effective method to express ‘the greatness of the Warrior’ instead of yammering about it.
“…But wasn’t it fun?”
“……!”
My emotional plea left Merlin speechless.
I could see him hesitating.
His gaze was directed at me, but in those eyes, I could surely see a reflection of his past when he first leveled up the Warrior class.
…Almost there.
I delivered the final blow.
“…I enjoyed leveling up the Warrior class with you and the others, Master. That’s why I created a ‘Guild’ to deepen our bonds even further.”
“…I also, I also had fun.”
Finally, Merlin’s speech didn’t end with “So, are you the Guild Master of the Warrior Craftsman Union?”
I let out a light sigh of relief inwardly.
I got through that tough battle.
Well, there might be a chance Merlin will come to his senses and seek me out again later…
But that’s a matter for then.
Right now, I didn’t know.
I looked around to change the subject from the Warrior’s junk fortress while dodging the gazes of my comrades who knew about it.
“Anyway…”
I trailed off my words.
I could still see the remaining minefield. Even though I had disarmed all the detonators, it still sent a chill down my spine.
Wow, I can’t believe nothing happened.
I never thought I could catch a speeding grenade with telekinesis magic.
As I couldn’t continue speaking, Merlin nodded, rubbing his eyes.
“…Well, sorry about that.”
Having been in the field for so many years, he seemed genuinely embarrassed.
Merlin slowly bowed his head to me.
“And, …thank you for coming to save me. I should have said that first.”
I hurriedly stopped Merlin, who had bowed his head.
“Hey, there’s no need for thanks between us.”
“No matter what, it’s…”
“We are the same ‘Warriors’, after all.”
Merlin, who widened his eyes at my response, soon smiled gently.
“…Haha, you’re right.”
As he answered, I noticed Merlin’s fingertips trembling.
It seemed to be due to issues with the cyberware in his nerves.
Neural network viruses could often be nasty. Even if he had received treatment from Eve, I felt the need for a detailed check-up.
“So shall we head up? Being stuck in this minefield makes me shiver all over. Let’s talk more outside.”
“…Yeah, let’s do that.”
I instinctively made a move to support Merlin.
…
Upon reflection, supporting someone whose body was mostly cyberware using just my bare hands was almost impossible.
I used the muscle enhancement magic I had learned last time.
An unformed magical energy settled in the gaps of my muscles. A strange feeling, as if something alien was embedded in my limbs, washed over me.
“…Oh, what’s this?”
Looks like it was Merlin’s first time seeing this.
His eyes sparkled at the sight of the new magic.
“It’s muscle enhancement magic. Well, I kind of accidentally created it.”
“…Accidentally, huh?”
I couldn’t really explain how it’d come about, as it involved personal privacy.
Seeing our interaction, Catherine muttered out loud.
“I could help support him, you know.”
“Nah, it’s fine.”
I waved my hand lightly.
For reference, Julia did approach us, but given her short height, it was naturally impossible.
I imagined Julia helping Merlin and tripping over immediately. That’s where my imagination ended.
Yeah, it’s impractical.
It would be hard to balance.
Anyway.
“Let’s get out of here.”
The air in the underground felt stifling.
And just then.
“Another bio-signal is approaching this way.”
“…Huh?”
Upon hearing Eve’s voice, I looked toward the corridor, where heavy footsteps could be heard.
– Thud, shh… Thud, shh…
The sound was very irregular, as if one foot was dragging.
…What’s going on?
Did a vagabond from next door wander in?
Of course, that was unlikely.
We stood alert, focusing on the corridor.
– Shhh.
From the shadow of the corridor emerged a man with a grotesque appearance.
It was quite common for underground vagabonds to wander around with mismatched sizes of cyberware.
However, this individual took it to another level.
His arms and legs were of different lengths. From the looks of it, it seemed like he was wearing different sizes and types of cyberware haphazardly.
The inner skin of his torn face was glimmering with red light from the lenses embedded in it.
The different colored skin had thick stitching marks all over, giving the impression of a hastily repaired toy.
But this guy…
Felt familiar…
I couldn’t shake the sense that I had seen his face before.
While maintaining my wariness, I tried to unearth buried memories from my mind.
There’s no way someone with that appearance wouldn’t stand out.
“…Hmm?”
Looked like he was sharing the same sentiment, as he furrowed his fierce brow while examining us.
The mechanical eye on his left spun around.
It seemed like he was zooming in on us.
Seeing such a haphazardly stitched cyberware, I thought he could only have come from a landfill…
…
“Ah.”
I let out a short sigh.
Words spilled out as a thought flickered through my mind.
“Teddy?”
What the heck is going on?
What is that guy doing here?
“…What’s up? You look kinda sluggish.”
I never expected to hear a nickname we used back in the village.
He was someone I used to live with in the garbage landfill village.
I’d heard whispers that he got dragged away by a drone, but I never dreamed I’d actually see him alive.
I tilted my head and called out Teddy’s nickname again.
“…Is that really you, Teddy?”
But Teddy didn’t respond to my words.
His gaze leisurely shifted to Catherine.
“You look like a princess. Haha, it’s really a long time to see. Never thought I’d meet you guys here.”
‘Princess’ was Catherine’s nickname before she was called Gyeomjok in the garbage landfill.
“…It’s him.”
“Excuse me?”
I questioned Merlin’s voice.
“He’s the one who hacked my signal and installed the virus on me.”
“……”
Our gazes turned cold.
It seemed Teddy also caught on to the shift in atmosphere, as he casually shrugged and wiggled his fingers.
“If you put it that way, it sounds like I’m the bad guy. I was just trying to have a little chat and stopped—what’s with that weak firewall of yours?”
The lack of manners hadn’t changed.
“Anyway, it’s been a while since I last saw you, but I’ve got a little business with that old man over there. Can you give me a little leeway? After all, we’re hometown friends, right?”
Teddy appeared unusually self-assured.
Had he been eating well since getting picked up by the drone?
He didn’t show any trace of the foolish demeanor he once had.
Though honestly, it didn’t matter now.
“Individual ‘Teddy’ confirmed.”
The AI that once wanted to know Teddy’s whereabouts after hearing my and Catherine’s story was now right here.
“Hmm? And you are─”
“I’ve heard the story.”
“…Wait a minute, your firewall broke that quickly? Is that even possible?”
Somehow, I felt that the detailed story could be revealed by this guy.