By Zephyria 
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Before leaving Goryeo City, I stopped by Director Gil’s. He pulled down the shutters of his electronic store and handed me a machine wrapped in cloth from a corner.
“You don’t get to take it if you don’t tell me what you’re using it for.”
“……It’s related to the return flight. I’ll make sure I don’t get caught.”
“Getting a hold of this thing was illegal in the first place. I took the risk and got it because you said you’d do it, but if you’re caught using it, you might not even be able to come back to this neighborhood.”
It was an illegal device used to read bio chips. Apparently, he had to spend a significant portion of the pawnshop money that was supposed to be split with Mu-hae just to acquire this one item.
Even so, since it couldn’t perfectly bypass the internal security, he said it would only be able to extract limited data.
Furthermore, the data was one-time use; if it wasn’t recorded separately, it would vanish quickly, and in the worst-case scenario, there was a risk of damaging the chip itself.
Actually, that wasn’t a bad thing. Rather than leaving someone’s weakness in the hands of the vegan society, Mu-hae felt more at ease completely wiping it out.
After doing his best to calm Director Gil’s concerns about what kind of crazy shit he was getting into, he left Starlight Road.
The reason for heading outside today was partly to uncover the vegan society’s intentions, but the primary goal was to capture the grey-haired man among the three humans, knock him unconscious, and steal the chip.
Since those guys likely weren’t gathering for an honorable purpose, they wouldn’t be able to report Mu-hae through official routes.
Even if they were infuriated, they wouldn’t act rashly while having lost a critical weakness.
Vrooooom—!
It had been a while since he rode a bike. After risking a large expenditure to upgrade the engine, the ride quality had become much worse, but the speed was dangerously fast.
Every time they passed over bumpy terrain, Joo-oh clung tightly to him from behind. It was quite funny, considering the guy could maintain his balance even if he just leaned casually.
After several hours of winding through rivers, lakes, and mountains, they reached their destination.
“Get off.”
“Mmm.”
“What’s the point of sniffing around there? All you’ll smell is oil. Hurry up and get off.”
Pushing away Joo-oh, who was still stuck to his back, Mu-hae calmly surveyed the surroundings.
If he walked for about five more minutes from here, he would reach a rocky hill large enough to be marked on a map. If the targets gathered beneath it, it would be better to circle around silently and climb the hill to monitor them.
There was no sign of anyone yet, so it seemed the operation hadn’t started. Mu-hae carefully checked the radar and planted listening devices in every spot where a meeting might occur.
He then lay flat on the hill and waited. Just as his waist began to ache, the sound of engines echoed from afar.
“They’re here.”
“Don’t talk.”
There was no way whispering voices would be heard from this distance, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious.
Mu-hae signaled Joo-oh to shut his mouth and inserted a thumbnail-sized earphone into his ear canal.
Soon, three figures approached the target point slowly. As they had mentioned, there were only five armed personnel.
If one or two were separated or if he launched a surprise attack from this side, suppressing that many wouldn’t be difficult.
—Kzzzt— The weather isn’t great. It would be best to finish the business and return quickly.
—I heard it was raining a bit over here.
—Looking at the clouds, it doesn’t seem like just ‘a bit.’
As they said, the broad daylight, which should have been dazzlingly bright, was gloomy and filled with damp air. Mu-hae focused on the faintly audible voices while analyzing the terrain below the hill.
Since the area was surrounded by trees, there were opportunities to sneak in, but the hulking figures who appeared to be guards were keeping watch in all four directions.
The left side was the most open, so it would be best to create a distraction on the opposite side to draw their attention before pouncing.
—I assume we weren’t followed.
—No one suspects a thing. I’ve been in and out of rest areas since I was young, after all.
—Once the device is activated, signs will appear immediately. You’ve prepared the bait well so they can’t rush this way, right?
—I am more certain about this part of the operation, so you don’t need to check every single detail as if you’re teaching a student.
As soon as the words ended, there was a scratching sound. One of the hulking men dragged over a bright red lump of meat and hung it from a tree.
It was a skinned Beast. It seemed it had been bled out, as blood wasn’t dripping, but any creature searching for fresh meat would be able to smell it from quite a distance.
The grey-haired man took a bag and pulled out a fist-sized water bottle. After piercing the tightly sealed opening with a sharp tool, he splashed the contents onto the lump of meat.
At that moment, Joo-oh, who was lying beside him, visibly jolted. His nose was twitching. His red eyes were fixed, staring intently at the scene.
“What? Something strange?”
“That…… that. Hawkins.”
Muttering, Joo-oh bit his lip hard. Hawkins? Mu-hae knew that man had attacked him on the beach full of Aberrants.
However, because he had lost consciousness early on after the attack, Mu-hae didn’t know exactly what had happened. Just as he opened his mouth to ask for more details, an unsettling conversation seeped into his ear.
—Actually, it doesn’t matter if this site is destroyed. The truly important part is the danger zone, isn’t it?
—I’ve already set up some work over there the other day. Things slipped up a bit and Aberrants emerged in a completely different direction, but…… today will be different.
—The defense force blocked them well, fortunately. Speaking of which, I should go and check one more time. There’s still plenty of time left.
Aberrants…… Aberrants emerging in a completely different direction and the defense force. The appearance of the Grade 1 Aberrant he experienced recently flashed sharply through his mind.
The Aberrant that had moved from the coast to the vicinity of Goryeo City for unknown reasons. The lump of meat hung from the tree as if to lure something.
One member of the vegan society, accompanied by two bodyguards, began to walk briskly. It was in the direction where the hover car was parked. Mu-hae watched the movement with a cold gaze and suddenly stood up.
“Jin Mu-hae?”
“……Stay here for a moment. Listen carefully to what they’re saying.”
“I want to go too.”
“Then there’ll be no one to monitor this place. I’ll be back soon, so stay still and don’t get caught.”
Joo-oh let out a whining sound and shook his head. The guy who was always composed had an anxious face for some reason, but the situation didn’t allow for indulging his complaints.
Mu-hae shot him a warning look and hurried away. No matter how unpredictable the guy was, he should be able to eavesdrop on a conversation without any problem.
Wasn’t that why he had assigned him important tasks every time they went on mercenary requests—to prepare him for times like this?
‘They’re heading southwest.’
After checking the direction the engine sounds were fading, he raced off on his bike. Seeing how lightly they had left, they wouldn’t have moved very far.
Mu-hae followed the hover car, adjusting the distance to remain inconspicuous. Finally, he silently slipped into the place where the target stopped.
There were three people who had traveled by car, including the vegan society member. As he judged this and peeked out, he saw several sturdy men stationed there for some reason.
Among them, there was no sign of the old man. It was as if he had traveled by hover car but hadn’t boarded it.
“……!”
As he felt something suspicious and tried to pull back, something hard touched the back of his head.
Was it already too late? A freezing sensation, as if the blood in his entire body were turning to ice. A gun muzzle was aimed at his skull. Mu-hae dropped the equipment he was holding and slowly raised both hands.
“Found him. Yes. Yes. I think it’s fine to deal with the remaining wildcat now.”
While he was tense, unable to even turn his head, someone behind him exchanged a message.
The remaining wildcat…… The moment he thought of Joo-oh, whom he had left behind on the rocky hill, a shock greater than when he felt the gun muzzle rattled his heart.
“Get up. Slowly. If you try anything funny, you won’t even have time to prepare your mind.”
There wasn’t even a gap to turn his head and identify the opponent. Mu-hae slowly stood up with his hands still raised.
Simultaneously, his arm was jerked, and both wrists were tied behind his back. Only then, pushed by a force, was he able to look back.
“Fuck. You brought a lot of people just to catch one guy.”
Two men as tall as Mu-hae. One gunman whose gender was indistinguishable. Considering there were five more people around the hover car, eight people were surrounding him.
Thwack! When Mu-hae violently shook his arm, the gun muzzle, which had momentarily moved away, was pressed back against the back of his head. Instead of breaking, the handcuffs restraining his wrists only dug deeper into his flesh.
He had been fooled perfectly. Where had it gone wrong? He had moved cautiously enough to ensure he wouldn’t be caught by them.
In an instant, the image of Joo-oh frowning flashed before his eyes like a panorama.
Specifically, the noise that had come through the listening device when he had frowned.
Beep—!
These were people who had deliberately left the central to plot in the Taeul District.
They might have prepared a means to avoid any potential surveillance.
If the listening device had been detected by their sensors, then the conversation they exchanged after the beep would have been a makeshift deception.
For example, specifically mentioning a concrete location like ‘below the rocky hill’……
‘Dammit.’
He thought things were going too easily. If those bastards had judged from the start that someone was watching them from the hill, then people like this would have pounced there as well.
……Then, what happened to Joo-oh? Even if his judgment was occasionally naive, his physical abilities were not lacking.
Would he be safe even if this many people suddenly attacked? First of all, would the option of being obediently suppressed to save his neck even enter that vacant head of his?
The hair on the back of Mu-hae’s neck stood up. He felt as if his heart, which had already dropped, plummeted once more into the abyss.
* * *
A game that had been played through so many times that there was no content left to enjoy.
When a new element appeared in a story that was both precious and tedious, Joo-oh was so happy he felt like he could fly.
New wire puzzles. New foods. Events he had never experienced and Jin Mu-hae’s daily life!
The moment anxiety hit him was when he faced a
He was a bit flustered…… well, it wasn’t enough to ruin his happiness. In any case, he had various pieces of information and means to control the situation in his head, and he was full of confidence that he could extract only the fresh fun from it.
He had even organized the variables that would befall Mu-hae one by one to be sure, which made him even more confident.
He hadn’t imagined that the attempt would backfire and return to him like this.
“Jin Mu-hae should be here……”
Whether he followed the first person, tracked the second, or monitored the third, in the original story, Jin Mu-hae does not leave this place.
He observes the situation here and overhears the entire conversation between the three key figures of the vegan society.
Their predecessors had attempted to use Aberrants long ago. Naturally, no matter what they did, the Beasts and Aberrants would not be tamed, and after trial and error, they only found that a substance discovered in the ruins of Crystal Blue stimulated the Aberrants.
Even if they couldn’t uncover the principle, they could still use it. The followers of Crystal Blue refined the substance, concentrated it, and repeatedly experimented by mixing various pheromones and scent factors into it.
The substance, processed in various forms, briefly lost its lineage after the collapse of Solar City, but it began to be developed again once it reached the hands of the vegan society.
To gauge its utility and hold a usable weapon in their hands, the vegan society boldly lured the Aberrants.
After hearing that entire story, a cutscene of a video related to Solar City plays.
A sudden attack. An unexpected explosion. People screaming. A massive ruin collapsing and burning……
—Ahem. Cough.
However, what Joo-oh was hearing now was not a story about Aberrants or Solar City.
A deathly silence. Occasional clearing of throats. Before long, it seemed one of them was exchanging messages with someone, and suddenly, several two-legged presences climbed the rocky hill.
‘…….’
Something went wrong again. As a lightning-fast realization struck the crown of his head, Joo-oh sprang up from his spot.
Clink, clank. Along with the eerie sound of metal, people aiming weapons slowly approached him.
Soon, a cold command flowed through the earphone.
—Kill him. We only need one.
Simultaneously, Bang!
A gunshot loud enough to shake the surroundings echoed thunderously.
179 – I Became an Anomaly in a Dead Game