NOVEL NEXT Chapter 172
A talentless quack surgeon who looked like he stumbled out of a third-rate splatter film, Teddy let out a deep sigh.
It wasn’t just because of the filthy bug crawling across the dirty sewer floor in front of him.
No, it was simply the current situation that was clearly out of whack with his understanding of ‘common sense’.
‘…Of course, the personal firewall is smashed to bits.’
The sight interface hovering before his eyes revealed his condition in an objective and graphic manner.
Red letters and ✕ symbols filled the screen like a confetti of failures.
All the filters he had installed in layers—double, triple, quintuple—had long since shattered.
‘…The vaccines have all become ineffective? Ha, even the most basic block system isn’t working.’
It was physically nonsensical.
But this was an undeniable reality.
‘…I only made eye contact, and the entire security system crumbles. This is really insane.’
Even with a decent reputation in hacking, he had to set various traps to install a virus on the old man before him.
Teddy let out a shallow chuckle.
He had to laugh it off; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to cope with it. It had been ages since he felt this flustered. Probably since he met the “guardian” a long time ago.
‘What the heck is his identity…?’
Teddy struggled to lift his unresponsive head. But he couldn’t move after losing total control of his nerve system.
And then.
There was something even more irritating than the situation itself.
“This is the punishment for stealing Siwoon’s credit chip.”
“…Who the hell is that punk Shun?”
“I have no idea.”
Teddy internally cursed under his breath.
He didn’t even realize he was crawling on the ground because of something that happened nearly a decade ago.
And he didn’t even really steal it.
—
Teddy.
Despite a slightly cute vibe, the reality was dark. His body was a patchwork of cyberware, reminiscent of a stuffed bear with messy seams.
He wasn’t exactly friends with those who lived together at the landfill that was my home in the game… more like acquaintances who exchanged simple greetings.
Of course, that wasn’t my fault.
There were probably no young boys who didn’t have a crush on Catherine’s looks back in the day.
And he definitely showed signs of that crush.
He stubbornly clung to the nickname he disliked (Princess) and openly hated me for hanging around Catherine.
That was the gist of it.
Though my body has only grown younger, my mental age was as mature as any adult, so I couldn’t be oblivious to that fact.
Thus, I didn’t remember ever treating Teddy badly.
After all, the boy in love hadn’t done anything wrong.
– “What’s up, loser? Where are you off to alone?”
– “…Let there be light!”
– “Ugh, damn!!”
I recalled the memories of when I had just learned magic.
Anyway.
Though we bickered back and forth, we were essentially in the same boat in that four-eyed (smart) orc’s shadow.
So, it was a bit of a relief to see him.
When I heard that he got caught by the megacorp’s killer drones, I thought, what a shame, but never imagined I would see him alive again.
“Nerve link has been completely hacked. I can’t move my limbs. Ha, is this real life? It’s not a dream, right? The security team of a megacorp couldn’t do this.”
“Entity ‘Teddy’s’ firewall is weak.”
“…Damn it.”
Seeing Teddy getting teabagged by an AI dredged up old memories.
He had endured that from Catherine a lot back in the day…
Anyway, I slowly made my way toward the completely neutralized Teddy.
What would be a good first greeting to someone I hadn’t seen in nearly ten years?
“Uh, um. How have you been?”
“Does it look like I’m doing well in this state?”
Sharp as ever.
That was probably the wrong thing to say.
I squatted down lightly, looking down at Teddy, who had his body inhabited by the hacker’s worm.
He definitely didn’t seem to have been doing well.
Why was he dragging around mismatched limbs…?
I muttered while checking Teddy’s condition.
“Since there’s no way you can get up right now, just listen to me without over-exerting yourself.”
“…Who the hell are you hanging around? Did you end up under the megacorp? Pff!”
Teddy spat at my feet.
Phew, I almost got hit.
Under the megacorp, huh…
If he knew I was dining and sauna buddies with the chairman of that very megacorp, his reaction would be priceless.
“It’s not under the megacorp, really. Well, I can’t say there’s zero connection.”
“You bastard. After suffering so much in the landfill, are you thinking of entering a corporation?”
“Not all corporations are the same. Some are good, some are bad.”
Of course, saying the Black Monolith is a good corporation would be a stretch.
Employee welfare might be decent, but seeing the chairman using employees for personal tasks raises a flag.
(Even the Golden Smile Condominium where I live is managed entirely by Monolith employees.)
I glanced at Eve.
“I’ll just say you’re an amazing hacker.”
“Ha, damn… I’m really unlucky.”
Had he been living underground for so long that he still had a filthy mouth? Wait, thinking back, his speech had always been rough.
I looked down at Teddy once more.
He was still growling with clenched teeth.
“So why did you install a virus on our old man? There must have been a reason.”
I used the old man title to make it easier to understand, given Merlin was the only one here who appeared old.
Though Merlin looked a bit sulky from my reference, I skillfully ignored it.
I rested my chin on one hand.
“Do you have any idea how much I suffered due to this minefield? If that had exploded, NCB24 would have had quite the scoop.”
I was serious.
In reality, NCB24 had already made quite a splash with the engagement news, but the vibe could change dramatically depending on the topic.
At my question, Teddy clenched his teeth.
“Damn it, why is that my fault?”
“…Heh.”
Usually, those from the landfill tended to avoid responsibility like that.
I continued speaking to Teddy as if I were teaching a child.
“Since everything that happened was because of the virus, of course it’s your fault.”
“Shut up. Which crazy person turns the surroundings into a minefield because they got infected with a virus?!”
…….
That much was true.
Teddy, feeling frustrated, raised his voice.
“I didn’t even send a serious virus! If I had, that old man would’ve been dead already! How can I help it if that punk shoots at me the moment we make eye contact?!”
…….
I momentarily turned my head to look at Merlin.
Merlin was averting his gaze shyly.
“And I don’t know if you realize this! But that old man has been causing a hell of a ruckus underground! Do you know how many underground organizations this old man has stirred up?!”
“…I don’t recall that.”
Quietly, Merlin finally spoke up.
Then Teddy raised his voice again.
“If you’re going to age, do it gracefully, not by running around searching for information about wizards and causing trouble with the nearby underground groups!”
Looks like while I was waging a war up top at the engagement ceremony, Merlin had been fighting a war down below against underground organizations.
I looked at Merlin again.
Merlin mumbled quietly.
“…I mean, you can’t just let a fugitive stroll by.”
Hmm.
Having grasped the situation, I softened my tone when talking to Teddy.
“I get the gist.”
“That damn old man—”
“So why were you looking for him? What were you planning to discuss?”
“……”
Suddenly, Teddy fell silent, stopping his loud rant.
He appeared to be hiding something.
It seemed like he had no intention of sharing.
But since we knew each other’s faces, it was hard to respond seriously…but now what?
I stood up from my squatting position. Turning my head around, I found five pairs of eyes all fixed on me.
For now….
……
Wait a minute.
Eve, Catherine, Julia, Merlin. I recognize four of them, but who is the last one?
I cautiously asked.
“…Who is that?”
As our gazes fell on Teddy, that unknown person had naturally slipped into our midst.
“……!”
None of us seemingly noticed, and we looked in surprise toward the person standing among us.
Eve wouldn’t have missed the biological signals approaching us. It was surprising that Catherine or Julia, who had sharper senses, were also caught off guard.
Well, Merlin still wouldn’t know, just like I did.
“…Please, let him go.”
It was a woman’s voice. A filthy hood was pulled low over her face as she pointed at Teddy.
She was a bizarre individual, with a presence so subtle she almost felt nonexistent.
…Teddy’s comrade?
Regardless, I was surprised. I couldn’t fathom what kind of confidence she had to just show up among us like this.
At that moment, a spark of fire appeared in her hand and moved closer to the mines on the ground.
“…Or I’ll blow this place up.”
“……”
There’s no escaping suicide bombers.
It would have been better if I had just taken Teddy out when we first met.
Our vicinity was still littered with mines.
Teddy, who lay sprawled, shouted at the woman.
“…Hey, what the hell are you doing? Why are you here?!”
It didn’t look like there was any agreement between them.
By the way, fire in the air…
It seemed my intuition wasn’t wrong as Merlin’s small voice reached me.
“…Magic?”
So there really was a wizard underground.
I could faintly feel the flow of mana.
I never dreamed I’d encounter the ‘wizard’ Merlin had been looking for like this.
At least, I didn’t want to see it in such a situation.
Catherine frowned at the woman.
“Can you blow that up? If it blows, you, and your friend here will be left with no traces.”
“Hey, hey! Don’t provoke her! She’s really capable of doing that!”
A startled Teddy rushed to silence Catherine.
A comical scene unfolded, with the hostage persuading us while crawling on the ground.
It seemed harder than usual to receive hacking help from Eve.
Even if I could hack her, there was no guarantee the magic would vanish.
If our lives were the weight on the scale, that risk was substantial.
……
There was no choice.
I quietly called Eve’s name.
“…Eve.”
“…….”
Eve puffed her cheeks.
She looked displeased.
Then, thankfully, Teddy, who had been on the ground, regained control of his body and got up. It seemed Eve understood my intentions.
Massaging his stiff body, Teddy muttered.
“…Phew, that was a good thought. We’ll just head out slowly. Let’s not meet again.”
Moving with mismatched steps, Teddy approached the woman who was his comrade.
Honestly, we had come to find Merlin.
I had no curiosity about the wizard Merlin was looking for. There was no reason to detain Teddy and dig for information.
It seemed preferable to just let them go rather than risk an explosive showdown here.
Teddy, approaching the woman, frowned.
“Seriously, why did you come here? It’s dangerous.”
“……”
“No, I survived this time. But you have to be careful. …Fine, I get it, I get it!”
As the woman raised a small fist, Teddy recoiled in shock.
I felt like we were the villains in this scenario…
Anyway, in this bloodless, merciless cyberpunk world, it was entirely possible to pretend to be fleeing while triggering mines.
I gathered mana, preparing to eliminate the flames while keeping an eye on the two.
Finally.
Teddy’s voice echoed from the end of the corridor.
“…Thanks for coming, Dal.”
‘Dal’, huh.
With that unique name preference, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was from the same landfill.
But I was unfamiliar with the name.
Yet, Catherine’s reaction was odd.
“……Dal?”
She seemed to recognize the name.
“Do you know her?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
Hmm….
Well, I’d just have to hear it later.
Thankfully, as Teddy and the woman disappeared, the flames in the air extinguished themselves.
Once again, the basement returned to its quiet state.
…What kind of struggle is this for coming to find Merlin?
I looked at everyone and said.
“…Let’s head out for now?”
Someone has been showing up just as we were about to leave. If we lingered again, I felt like someone else would drop by.
—
With luck, Drake’s implant shop was nearby.
Anyway, I had come nearby to reach the underground level, so that made sense.
“Then just leave it to me.”
“Please.”
Drake was a talented hacker and a top-notch cyberware technician.
Though Eve had treated him, it was a fact that Merlin needed a proper check-up.
Anyway.
As I walked out of Drake’s implant shop, I looked up at the sky and stretched widely.
Why on earth was I this exhausted after just a bit of action…
Although, truthfully, a lot had happened.
Now, I just needed to go home and game.
At that moment.
“…Over there.”
“Huh?”
It was Julia’s voice.
Julia had a look in her eyes reminiscent of a cat walking on two legs, as if she had been moved to tears.
“…There’s still plenty of time, but are you… planning to just go home…?”
Hmm.
Seeing her expression, I couldn’t outright say, Nope, I’m just heading home now.
“……”
It felt familiar to what I experienced when I went out with Andrea last time.
It seemed today wouldn’t be a simple trip home either…
I couldn’t help but let out a small sigh under my breath.