Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed

The dirty pipes were tangled up, running across the ceiling, while, on the side, a stream of contaminated water flowed down at a fast speed.

Having gotten out of the Underground Village area and passing through the sewage tunnel, we paused for a moment at the sewage path leading to Neon City.

There wasn’t any particular reason; it was just because a few people were blocking the way.

Considering the current situation, standing in the way of the entrance to the city could suspect them as hostile employees of Kojaka, or the Vice President’s adversaries.

But looking at them, their attire was too shabby.

Honestly, it was hard to see even in the lower class of Neon City—a real ‘street fashion’ getup.

One of them spat out a thick phlegm.

One person’s arm was a prosthetic, standing out with a simplified hook that could wipe Captain Hook’s cheek.

It was a rare form of prosthetic in the cyberpunk world.

In an era where cyberware replacing the body was mass-produced, even homeless folks living hand-to-mouth don’t walk around with such prosthetics.

In a way, it was incredibly unique.

This could also be seen as the reality of outsiders living outside the city.

A vagabond-home homeless gangster needlessly spat out long phlegm.

He cocked his head sideways at us.

“Hey? What’re you guys doing—, grrrrlk.”

Fortunately, we resolved it peacefully through conversation (electric persuasion).

Catherine casually kicked the slumped vagabonds aside with her foot and moved them to the corner.

Her will not to touch them with her hands was felt through her actions.

William Kojaka muttered with an awkward expression at the sight of the vagabonds frothing at the mouth.

“…Is this okay?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Anyway, the reality was that basic human rights couldn’t be upheld outside the city.

To be frank, if we had been weak, we could have been robbed and turned into their next meal.

Well, we didn’t kill them (probably) so there was no worry about problems arising.

Before stepping into the damp sewage, I pulled out a mask I had borrowed from Four Eyes and handed it to William Kojaka.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a mask, as you can see.”

He carefully took the mask I offered.

Then he asked me.

“Does wearing this make the smell a little less noticeable?”

Looks like he still hadn’t gotten used to the bad smell.

His face showed an expression as if he had found a ray of light in the darkness.

I shook my head firmly.

“No, the smell would probably be the same even with that on.”

“……Then I’m fine.”

He returned the mask to me.

“I don’t really wear masks because they’re suffocating. My lung function bioware is a special product, so it filters out polluted air cleanly.”

“Oh….”

He must be a rich person, huh?

But I didn’t take the mask he offered back.

I questioned him in that state.

“Then does it purify toxic gas too? Each area varies, like tear gas or deadly pathogens floating around; is that fine?”

“…….”

Maybe that was a no-go.

William Kojaka sneakily took back the mask he had handed me.

Then, with an awkward gesture, he immediately covered the mask on his face.

“…What kind of place am I in?”

William muttered in a bewildered tone.

It surely was a strange place.

Thanks to falling into the cyberpunk world, my standards had broadened immensely, even beyond that.

Well, if you think about it seriously, isn’t it just like a dungeon concept from a game?

Nevertheless, even considering that, one couldn’t think of it as a place suitable for living.

The fact that people are struggling to survive in such a place was remarkable.

William Kojaka fumbled around his face to properly wear the slightly askew mask.

Then his gaze drifted towards Catherine, who wasn’t wearing a mask.

He seemed to find it odd that she didn’t have one on, unlike my explanation.

“What about that mercenary?”

“Oh, she’s fine.”

Unlike the special product that the Vice President mentioned earlier.

She was a person actually outfitted with a real ‘special product.’ There was no need for civilians like us to worry.

Catherine, having confirmed we were wearing masks, walked toward the iron door of the sewage.

What followed next was a powerful kick.

—BANG!

With no light source in sight, the massive iron door flew off completely into the darkness beyond the corridor.

Catherine looked at me and said.

“Ready?”

Hmm.

I thought it would have been nice if she asked that before kicking the door.

I nodded my head.

“Uh-huh.”

Seems like this would be the second time passing through this door.

Just for reference, the first time was when I entered Neon City together with Catherine.

I thought after that day, I would never have to enter Neon City through the sewage again….

Ah, you really can’t predict a person’s future.

14. But at that moment (1)

“……Hoh, if it’s Ri Shun and Catherine, aren’t they the famous mercenaries from Monolith?”

“Oh, we’re not actually affiliated with that faction; it’s just that we’ve received a lot of missions from Monolith.”

Walking through a corridor engulfed in darkness.

It was like an unimaginable picnic, peacefully walking through the sewage while having a casual conversation.

Catherine was walking at the front.

William Kojaka in the middle, and I was at the end.

The sound of running water echoed loudly amidst the unseen darkness.

As this place was poorly maintained, there weren’t any lights shining alive.

Of course, it wasn’t a problem for me or Catherine.

Basically, our eye implants had a ‘night vision’ feature.

However, it was unrealistic to expect such a feature in Kojaka’s eyes, being an ordinary person.

So, for safety reasons, I had a bright sphere of light glowing in the air above my shoulder.

When I first created the light, the surprised expression on William Kojaka’s eyes was a work of art.

‘To think he can create plasma from his hands……!’

Only after that moment, he realized that we hadn’t revealed our true identities.

Recognizing our true identities, William Kojaka nodded his head on his own.

“So, the bullets blocking from the airship were all done through magic, huh.”

“Exactly.”

“…Meteor, and the unique wizard. I can certainly trust my safety to you.”

He didn’t know our faces but seemed to have heard the rumors in the mercenary industry.

The tension in his shoulders that had been worrying reshaped a bit.

I saw that and said briefly.

“Still, you have to be cautious.”

“Haha, with legends of the mercenary industry protecting me, what should I be worried about?”

“Things like this.”

As I answered, I created a mass of cold air in the void.

Thanks to gathering mana to continue using magic while walking, the speed was incredibly fast and accurate.

With a pop, something bounced off from the air.

Had I not used magic, a giant mass of liquid bursting from the ceiling would have buried William Kojaka.

“Ugh!”

William Kojaka bent down with a startled scream.

Thanks to my quick reaction, he wasn’t hurt.

I slowly walked toward the position where ‘that’ bounced off.

Illuminating the light sphere, I pointed to something magically frozen.

There, a huge eyeball encased in a mass of liquid was frozen solid.

I kicked it lightly as if I were kicking a soccer ball.

It naturally rolled right up to William Kojaka.

“……What is this?”

“A giant amoeba, one might say. The difference is it eats people.”

Whether it was a corporate experiment or a mutated organism due to pollution, I didn’t know its exact identity.

Besides, it wasn’t like there were many of these things, so I wasn’t too interested.

While there was also a way to burn it down with fire, using fire in a closed space involves some risks.

I thought it would be better to show William Kojaka directly what’s dangerous about it.

William Kojaka scratched the back of his neck, looking pale.

I continued explaining while watching him.

“Honestly, we’re fine. Unless we go down a few more levels underground, it’s not that dangerous here.”

“…Hmm.”

He should have understood what I meant.

We are fine.

But what about you?

William Kojaka’s shoulders, which had slightly relaxed, shrank back as if they had regained their initial tension.

There was no need to be too tense.

But not being tense at all was a problem too.

Putting a certain level of vigilance could help security.

“Well, then let’s set off again.”

“…….”

Sandwiched between a quiet William Kojaka, I began to walk along the road again with Catherine.

Drip, drip.

Only the sound of falling droplets echoed ominously.

Though it was a path long past, it was still a place we had risked our lives to cut through.

When young, both Nana and Catherine were weak.

Because of that, I still remembered the structure and shape of this place vividly.

So, I had no worries of getting lost in the complicated sewage.

Judging from that, it seemed Catherine was fine too.

When the crossroads appeared, we moved along without getting lost.

…

We kept walking.

Hmm, it’s too quiet.

I was getting a little bored.

Maintaining a suitable level of vigilance was fine.

I didn’t mean to say we had to remain completely silent.

With the intention of relaxing Kojaka a little, I was about to ask him.

“Which Kojaka stocks should I buy to earn credits?”

Eve couldn’t possibly stop the stocks that the Vice President himself told him to buy.

But then—

[Detected a sudden biological signal ahead.]

With Eve’s words, Catherine moved.

William probably didn’t hear Eve’s voice since it was only audible to me.

Catherine’s movement made sense through the sound.

With a clang!, a metal spark erupted from in front of Catherine.

I looked forward.

Through the darkness, several strands of curved light beams flew toward us.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out those light beams were shurikens.

Moreover, the black-painted shurikens were flying along with the ones glowing with LEDs.

It was a classic yet effective method against someone who relied solely on night vision and eye implants.

However, with a light sphere floating above me, it would set me up for failure if I got hit by that.

…Actually, I didn’t have to do anything.

Catherine, unfazed, swatted away the flying shurikens with her bare hands.

There wasn’t a single scratch left on her palm, despite the sharp shurikens.

Wait a minute, shurikens?

Is the cleaning robot finally out of its mind?

Or has a vagabond obsessed with Japanese culture popped up in this cyberpunk world?

I enlarged the light sphere.

Brightly illuminating the surroundings.

The narrow alley.

The polluted water flowing in the sewage beside us.

The amoebas with eyeballs rolling in the corners.

And beyond all that.

In the depths of the sewage tunnel.

Several shadows appeared.

“Shit.”

I couldn’t hold back my curse.

Ninjas had appeared.

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