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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: The Unseen
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Ring ring ring!
"Hm?"
Rimon snapped out of his reverie at the sudden ring of the bell.
He pulled his smartphone out from where it was buried in the sofa cushions and checked the screen. The name [Yuna Kyung] lit up, and he frowned in puzzlement.
'What's she calling me for?'
He only had a moment to tilt his head.
Rimon tapped the call button and answered anyway.
[Hello~ Team Leader?]
The connection was met with a cheerful voice right away.
In a way, it was the voice he heard more than anyone's over the course of a year. Rimon replied indifferently.
"Yeah, what is it?"
[There's something I need to tell you. You're at home right now, right?]
"And?"
[Oh, perfect then. I'll head over now.]
"...What?"
Rimon blinked.
It wasn't that he couldn't understand her abrupt words.
On the contrary, he knew exactly what she meant by them, which was why he was so flustered.
"Hey, hold on!"
Click!
Unfortunately, Rimon's attempt to stop her came too late.
By the time the call cut off unilaterally, the space in front of him was already warping.
The moment the distortion vanished...
She appeared before him as if she'd dropped straight out of the sky.
"Hya! Special Agent Yuna Kyung, arr...!"
Twang!
"...iving?"
There was one problem.
The spot where she chose to materialize was right on top of the stack of manga volumes Rimon had been reading and tossed aside.
She'd pulled off an incredibly acrobatic feat—striking a dramatic pose atop a tower of books—but the price was disastrous.
Crash!
"Eek? Kyaa!"
"Tch."
Rimon clicked his tongue as he watched Yuna Kyung twist her ankle and topple backward onto the crumbling pile.
He grabbed her flailing wrist and yanked her toward him.
Thanks to his quick reflexes, instead of smashing the back of her head on the table corner, she dove straight into his arms. Yuna Kyung let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, that was close to a death sentence."
"Death? Please. As if a level 70s high-level player would drop dead from a little bump on the head."
"Even players die when it's time to die!"
"You wouldn't die from a sprained ankle and a knock on the noggin."
Rimon snorted.
In truth, the body of a high-level player over level 70 was steel itself.
Differences depended on stamina stats, but even falling backward, they wouldn't break their nose—let alone smash rocks with the back of their skull.
Yuna Kyung puffed out her cheeks at his cold assessment.
"Is that what you say to a subordinate who just barely escaped sudden death?"
"Who told you to teleport in out of nowhere?"
"I didn't know your place was such a disaster zone!"
Rimon looked at the indignant Yuna Kyung with pity in his eyes.
She wasn't some newbie player.
For one of the top space-affinity players in the country to botch a teleport and twist her ankle...
Rimon remembered the era when witches—who could fly and do all sorts of wonders—threw tantrums just to try out that damn Space Movement once. It was absurd.
'Players these days...'
He sighed at the stark generational gap, then suddenly remembered something he'd forgotten.
"Hey, when are you gonna get off me?"
"Huh?"
She looked at him like he'd started munching grass.
She only tilted her head for a moment.
Then Yuna Kyung blinked as she noticed Rimon's unusually close face and the arm around her waist. Her face flushed crimson, and she scrambled backward.
"Ahaha, sorry. I was so out of it."
"You're always out of it."
"Tch..."
She shot Rimon a sharp glare at his usual lack of tact.
But Rimon didn't bat an eye.
He just plopped back onto the sofa and asked casually,
"So, what's up?"
"What's what?"
"Didn't you come here because you had something to tell me?"
"Oh, right. Yeah."
"..."
His golden eyes turned icy in an instant.
"Argh! Why the death glare? Anyone would forget after nearly dying!"
"That's something to brag about, huh."
"Don't be like that to someone bringing good news for once."
Out of excuses, she went full shameless instead.
Rimon looked puzzled at Yuna Kyung's brazen shout, her face a mask of thick skin.
"What, did you win the lottery or something?"
"Pfft, better than that. Lottery? That thing went bust ages ago thanks to prophecy players."
"Then what is it?"
"Something like winning the lottery."
"...Are you here just to get punched?"
"Whoa, wait! Hold on! I'll tell you, okay?!"
Yuna Kyung flailed her hands in panic at Rimon's clenched fist.
She glanced around as if afraid of eavesdroppers and whispered,
"We found the Liberation Brigade's hideout."
* * *
Liberation Brigade
Despite the "brigade" in the name, it obviously wasn't some military outfit.
If anything, it was the opposite.
An organization aiming to liberate oppressed and exploited players from the government, creating a world where everyone could live freely.
That was the Liberation Brigade.
Like any group, their ideology sounded plausible on the surface.
But those who'd actually dealt with them summed it up in one word.
"We found those psychos' hideout?"
"Yep."
Yuna Kyung nodded firmly.
Everyone knew the Liberation Brigade were psychos.
Players were the highest earners in modern society to begin with.
"Liberating" them was nonsense from the start.
The clincher was their goal.
They called it a "world where all are free," but breaking it down meant ensuring players faced no punishment for any crimes.
So not just civilians, but even players saw the Liberation Brigade as psychos.
The exceptions? Those who agreed with the ideology.
I.e., criminals dying to commit murder, rape, arson—and the truly insane.
"How? Even the NIS couldn't find it."
That said...
Rimon's skepticism was natural.
With so many criminals, the Brigade was adept at evasion and surveillance.
Their hideout was so well-hidden, no one had ever tailed them there.
"Hehehe! We've got our ways."
"I'm asking what those ways are."
"Can't tell you that, but I guarantee it's solid intel."
"Hm..."
Rimon eyed Yuna Kyung's smug grin suspiciously for a moment.
Then he nodded.
She might be a klutz, but Yuna Kyung was still a Special Management Bureau agent.
If she vouched for it so confidently, it had to have some credibility.
"But why tell me?"
"Why? Time for you to get a promotion."
"Promotion?"
He blinked as if hearing an alien tongue.
Yuna Kyung launched into a passionate speech for her boss, who'd only been demoted for decades and never promoted.
"Wiping out the Liberation Brigade's hideout? That's huge merit. Instant suspension lift, and promotion's a sure thing."
It made sense.
They hid like rats yet pulled insane stunts, making the Brigade a national headache.
Subduing their base was no small feat.
Especially in the PAB, where they were a thorn in the side amid all the vicious high-level players.
But Rimon didn't fall for the sweet talk.
He just asked flatly,
"So, what's the real reason?"
"They've got bounties on their heads."
"Wanna make some cash while we're at it?"
"Gotta save up for a wedding fund sometime."
"Aren't you too honest?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I beat around the bush anyway."
"Fair point."
Rimon chuckled at her bold admission.
He crossed his arms and mulled over the offer.
'Not a bad deal.'
Promotions? He didn't care.
Centuries of experience taught him they led nowhere.
But the bounty? Tempting.
The Brigade's pot was huge; play it right, and he'd score big.
Sure, claiming it solo meant taking down the Brigade with just Yuna Kyung, no backup...
'A few bug bastards? Piece of cake.'
Rimon snorted softly.
No matter how many high-level players, they were just criminal rabble.
Motley crew who didn't know real war? Numbers meant nothing against him.
The only snag was their suspensions, but even that was minor.
Take down the Brigade, and like she said, the suspensions would vanish.
'Hmm, the more I think, the less reason not to.'
Having sorted his thoughts...
Rimon's face hardened suddenly.
Whoosh.
His vision went pitch black for an instant.
Over Yuna Kyung's expectant face, something entirely different began to overlay.
"...What the fuck?"
"Eek? Why the sudden cursing?!"
"Not at you, so shut it for a sec."
Rimon held up a hand to block Yuna Kyung's outburst.
It wasn't just the surprise.
He'd experienced this exact phenomenon recently—people suddenly looking different.
'Kinda like when Seo Yongchan's head turned into a cow's...'
Luckily—or not...
Unlike Seo Yongchan, Yuna Kyung's head didn't morph into a full cow skull.
Just her face turned corpse-pale, and her hair seemed to grow unnaturally long.
The issue was her slender neck.
Or rather, the snake with fangs buried in it.
'Not like Seo Yongchan's case, so probably not a hallucination... but not real either. She'd freak if it was.'
It matched Seo Yongchan's perfectly.
The black flash in his vision, the altered appearance.
Only he could see it.
But given who she was and the situation, Rimon pondered seriously—unlike with Seo Yongchan.
'Am I actually going crazy and hallucinating?'
If it happened once, blame the other guy.
Twice?
Even Rimon had to doubt his sanity a bit.
That's why he hadn't drawn his sword to slice the snake yet.
Hallucination or not...
She didn't seem about to die from it right now.
'If it's not a hallucination...'
Like any rational person...
Rimon first ruled out his own madness.
Then sought the most logical explanation.
'...Did I suddenly gain the ability to see things others can't?'