Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed

The thick hatch slowly opened.

A fierce gust of wind flowed in from outside, sweeping through the interior of the airship.

I tightly clutched the safety strap amid the huge vibrations.

I peeked out and looked down.

Outside the airship, the vast horizon unfolded, surrounded by a shield – a view of Neon City, all in one glance.

I had no fear of heights.

But still, maintaining my sanity at this altitude was a bit much.

What the heck was I doing here?

I zoned out, admiring the scenery.

Amid the sound of the strong wind, Catherine’s voice broke through.

“…Are you ready?!”

I didn’t answer.

I simply raised my trembling hand and formed an ‘OK’ sign with my thumb and index finger.

I was worried that if I opened my mouth, my shaky voice would give me away.

I regretted not catching on to this situation earlier.

Who would have thought parts of Natasha’s plan that I casually overheard included this surprise?

I recalled Natasha’s plan briefly.

She had said,

[And the most important part is to use this gap to intrude from the air, hijack it, and land at the designated external garbage dump. Finally, once we deliver the target to the safe house, the plan is complete.]

That’s right.

I should have asked then.

How were we supposed to intrude from the air?

How exactly were we going to hijack the airship?

It wasn’t until just before boarding the airship that I finally grasped the situation.

At that time, I was desperately coming up with excuses to survive.

“Do we really have to jump without a parachute from the airship? I mean, you know, we could use tactical jetpacks or small airships instead─.”

The speed of entry into the airship is slow.

And we could get intercepted by the tactical drones nearby, so that was out of the question.

“If we just crash the airship that the Vice President is on─.”

It might not even be Smile John.

After all, the purpose of this plan was kidnapping, not murder, so that was definitely out of the question.

“Let’s just not do it.”

In the end, I even said that.

But Catherine grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me onto the airship, leaving me with no way out.

Neon City’s entry was strictly controlled, and launching an airship was also restricted under city law, but.

For some reason, those issues were resolved way too easily.

There were just too many capable people around.

And so, it turned out that Catherine and I were going skydiving without parachutes from the airship.

I wanted to drag Drake and Andrea into the same predicament, but.

Sadly, they were stuck waiting at their designated ground point with equipment unsuitable for a raid.

I wanted out too.

But in this operation without a ‘parachute,’ my role was the most crucial.

Even if Catherine is the protagonist of this game.

Falling from this height without any device would be extremely, extremely dangerous.

“…Hah.”

Why did I even learn magic?

Today, I felt especially resentful towards my teacher (video channel).

《Just jump in exactly 15 seconds. I’ll count.》

Natasha contacted us via radio.

《Once you enter the airship, you probably won’t be able to communicate due to jamming, so if there’s anything to say, say it now.》

Having come this far, there was nothing more to say.

I took a deep breath.

The wind gusting harder than before whipped my masked face around.

Because of that, my breath was only audible to me.

《10.》

Slowly, Natasha began to count.

The countdown reached 5 in an instant, without giving me a moment to prepare mentally.

5, 4, 3, 2─.

And then.

《1.》

I kept my eyes tightly shut.

“Let’s go!”

Catherine jumped out into the open air with me.

If there is a god of Cyberpunk,

I really hope it leaves me alone.

Falling from the sky,

Turns out it’s more romantic than I thought.

It was like that before I came to this world.

Many people paid for the thrill of skydiving.

The refreshing wind and sense of liberation.

A type of extreme sport enjoyed while safety is guaranteed.

But of course, living in this Cyberpunk world made it a different story.

I didn’t know about other cities, but.

In Neon City, a massive shield loomed over the entire city.

Except for certain areas, entry was strictly prohibited.

I still wonder how Natasha managed to breach that and launch the airship.

The reason for the shield around the city.

As I mentioned several times before, it was due to severe weather abnormalities.

A typical example being hurricanes packed with toxic gas.

In a world where storms laced with radiation and toxins occur frequently, there weren’t many people who could enjoy skydiving outside the city at leisure.

In that sense, I thought positively.

Even if I didn’t want it,

I was getting to enjoy skydiving, which others couldn’t.

Aside from the minor issue of lacking a parachute, I had no complaints.

As I was falling while lost in unnecessary thoughts,

Catherine reached out and grabbed my hand.

Our fingers intertwined.

Unlike me, who was escaping into reality, Catherine was enjoying her fall with a bright smile.

Her expression was vividly clear since she wasn’t wearing a mask yet.

Her blonde hair, reflecting the sunlight, danced in the wind.

Perhaps it was because of that sight,

The tension in my heart seemed to loosen as well.

…Right.

Well, experiencing a fall from the sky without a parachute is something you can go through in life, right?

Then Catherine shouted something.

I couldn’t hear what she was saying over the wind.

Realizing I couldn’t hear her, Catherine pulled my hand closer to her.

Her flushed face filled my view.

“Siwoon!!”

“Uh!”

I replied.

It’s probably just my imagination, but.

I felt her breath reaching me, cutting through the strong wind.

I turned my back to the earth.

Gazing at the sky, I faced Catherine.

Her prominent nose and golden eyes left an impression.

What was she trying to say?

Was it something important─.

“Look behind!!”

“Huh?”

It didn’t seem like it was anything important.

Well, it’s been a while since we started falling.

That meant it was time to prepare to land.

I calmed my heart, which was racing for no good reason, as Catherine got closer and started jumping energetically.

I turned my body to look down at the ground.

In the distance, a large airship appeared.

It was still far away, but judging by its shape, it seemed to match what Natasha had described about the Vice President’s personal ship.

It was impressively large.

I didn’t have to worry about passing it unnoticed.

And at that moment,

A light flickered on the ground.

A launched missile traced a curve, trailing smoke behind.

…But wait.

Is that a little too big?

The missile was larger than I’d expected.

If it was that size, it seemed they intended to crash it down.

But such worries were fleeting.

A beam of light shot out from below the airship carrying the Vice President.

The spread of light illuminated the sky as it ignited into flames.

───■■!!

A huge explosion that was hard to describe in words occurred.

The bang was short.

The explosion, long.

The shockwave caused several tactical drones flying near the airship to crash into the garbage dump below.

I was mesmerized by the explosion when.

Catherine grabbed me and began to descend rapidly.

Drawing a line straight down to the ground.

It was a posture minimizing air resistance.

Catherine, glancing back, had already masked her face.

A holographic image appeared like a mask.

“Checked flares and chaff; right now the radar should be down. That means the defense system is wide open.”

She continued speaking.

“…But the launch speed is faster than my calculations. There may be other problems.”

While she suspected there could be problems,

She didn’t slow down our descending speed.

And rightly so, since we only had one choice.

I prepared to use magic.

The magic I was going to use consisted of only two types.

One was the wind magic I used to send those alleyway thugs flying into the air.

Using the wind, I would change the direction of our fall.

I knew from the plans I reviewed where the Vice President would likely be.

The other magic was the primary reason I was mobilized for this operation.

This was the magic I used when I was ambushed by Smile John’s lackey.

It was also the magic I used when I was hit by anti-tank weaponry while riding in a driverless taxi.

I enveloped myself and Catherine with my magic through the grip on my body.

This wasn’t the concept of armor.

If it were, I would have surely broken something when I was flung from the driverless taxi.

Shield, defense.

It was magic that blocked the impact itself.

To put it simply, it was magic that absorbed shock.

We were getting closer to the airship faster and faster.

In other words,

It meant that even this impossible operation could be made possible.

– KWAANG!

“What, what?! What now?!”

As soon as we fell onto the airship.

Catherine burst into the airship’s interior.

Indeed.

Just as the plans had laid out.

We suddenly infiltrated the airship, catching ‘Kojaka William’ off guard.

Ding, delivery service!

…But for some reason, the situation on-site felt a little off.

Inside the airship, not only were Kojaka William and his subordinates present,

But masked individuals were pointing guns at him as well.

I thought of Smile John’s lackeys first,

But their masks were different in shape.

“……”

We, who had broken through the airship’s ceiling,

Faced anonymous individuals aiming guns at the Vice President.

And there were the Vice President and his subordinates.

Just then, my radio, which I had attached to my pouch, flickered with light.

Seeing that Catherine’s radio also lit up meant Natasha was contacting us.

“…Um, wait a moment.”

I asked for a moment’s pause.

Maybe because everyone was in shock,

No one stopped me.

People faced with unexpected events usually remain motionless.

Natasha’s voice came through the radio.

《We have a problem; even though we didn’t launch missiles, there are others who did shoot first.》

Hmm.

《It seems like it was easy to breach the security channel when we were planning; these guys probably had been infiltrating beforehand.》

Hmm.

《But according to my calculations, we should not have reached the airship yet; first, let’s land on the ground to assess the situation─.》

At that moment, the radio shut down.

It seemed the jamming we’d encountered inside the airship had been restored.

……

This seems.

Even if others intervened,

The order of events felt a bit strange.

Given there were armed individuals above us,

It indicated that infiltrators had already secretly entered the airship.

And it then follows that these guys’ allies had launched missiles at the airship.

We were aiming to infiltrate,

But we stormed into the airship right after it was shot at.

From that, it meant these fools’ aim wasn’t just for soft kidnappings.

A brief silence ensued.

In the ongoing unexpected three-way standoff,

A game of wits unfolded.

Kojaka William finally spoke.

“…Are you here to rescue me by any chance?”

We’re actually here to kidnap you though.

I secretly let out a sigh.

Things had spiraled out of control.

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