Playing with Fire (3)
Doris and the mercenary group felt the stinging gazes around them as they walked down the street.
"Looks like they're coming?"
"Let's lure them. Fighting here doesn't feel right."
In a gunfight, no matter how careful they were, there would inevitably be innocent casualties.
Conversely, one might think 'Surely they wouldn't start a fight in such a street?' but expecting such common sense and conscience from mercenaries wasn't a very wise notion.
"The abandoned factory we scouted earlier. Is it far from here?"
"Should be there after walking a bit... It feels bad to let them get ahead though."
"You and Ravina go ahead and secure positions. I'll follow last."
"Alright."
For a sniper like Luna, securing position early was quite important.
"By the way, these guys are too reckless. Why are they charging in like this when their intel could be wrong?"
"Probably not much different from us."
"Since it's hard to find leads, are they just probing everyone who seems possible..."
Still, they would have been discovered eventually.
Among mercenaries, many had time to spare. It wouldn't have been too difficult to find female mercenary groups operating in 2-3 person teams who were free that day.
"I'm going. Have fun but don't get too close and start a fight."
Luna left Doris with a sour expression.
"Don't worry about it."
Doris moved through the streets with a slight smile.
"...They've split up a bit."
Those who knew she was the leader of the mercenary group were people who had found proper intelligence.
Doris was the leader and vanguard of the mercenary group, and the place where incidents were likely to occur was where Doris was, not the others.
She could see a small number of people quietly disappearing, but that level should be manageable for Ravina and Luna.
"Hmm, what should I do..."
Though she was the one who leaked the information, facing unknown enemies was still tense.
"Wonder if they'd like some chocolate bars..."
Ravina had said she wanted ice cream, but it would surely melt quickly in the middle of fighting.
After leisurely buying chocolate bars from a nearby convenience store, Doris prepared to run.
***
"Combat has begun."
"I was getting bored waiting, this is good."
I had been reading all of Doris's movement range. Her intentions and purposes too.
Since she was doing something dangerous, it was wise to act as insurance. There was also a need to clean up the people involved while at it.
"Preparations are complete."
Though I was acting somewhat recklessly, my secretary continued to follow me.
"The police?"
"They won't come. There was that matter you ordered recently, young master."
"That's true."
Even though it was an abandoned factory, it wasn't completely deserted without any human presence.
Since it was walkable from White Mountain Street, there would be plenty of people who wouldn't mind taking a slightly dangerous path.
But the police force was too poor to control that.
Of course, it was partly my fault for giving them investigation orders that were difficult to carry out with police capabilities.
"Well, that's better. Did you contact the retrieval team?"
"No matter how I think about it, it would be more efficient to just kill them. Even with disguises, to let people live after seeing your face, young master..."
"Let's do this gently. Gently."
I didn't think we'd be discovered, but I didn't want to kill people with my own hands.
I had already become numb enough to casually use death and sacrifice before my eyes.
If I killed someone with my own hands, I felt I might become addicted to that 'easy solution.'
I didn't take a car. Though I had a relatively cheap vehicle following in autonomous mode just in case, actually riding in it would be too risky.
There was a good chance of being discovered from the engine noise alone, and if the fight intensified, we'd have to sell the precious car to a junkyard.
"Coming out like this, just the two of us... not bad."
"Aren't you ashamed of me?"
I couldn't grasp the meaning of the question. I nodded with an indifferent face.
Half my brain was worried about Doris and her group, and about a quarter of the remaining half was contemplating how to fight to reveal myself at 'just the right level.'
"Before, you thought of me as a disgrace."
But at the secretary's words, I had to bite my lip hard.
Though I knew the content revealed in the game by heart, I couldn't know 'Han Sanwoo's' memories without deliberately digging into them.
I let sweat drip from my forehead as I silently walked, searching through the memories in my head.
'...It's true.'
It wasn't necessarily a lie that 'Han Sanwoo' had been ashamed of her.
He was burning with an inferiority complex, and thought everything he received was 'could have been better, but the old men of Hansan undervalued and checked him, so they handed over garbage.'
Naturally, my secretary couldn't be an exception to that anger and hysteria.
This was an unexpected variable. Though I had tried to show an attitude 'not different from the previous Han Sanwoo,' even I hadn't thought he was such a rude and thoughtless person.
"Hmm..."
Should I get angry? But getting angry here might raise suspicions like 'Is he acting like this because he's caught?'
Moreover, my secretary wasn't showing hostile reactions toward me right now.
Though I would have no way of knowing if she deliberately deceived me and contacted Hansan's upper ranks, at least for now she wasn't.
Though showing a similar appearance to the previous Han Sanwoo was important, the fundamental purpose was to prevent exposure.
If I acted clumsily and hurt the secretary's feelings, it might break the precarious balance.
"Looks like we've arrived."
Intermittent gunfire and huge explosions could be heard from the abandoned factory. Several mercenaries were guarding the entrance with anxious looks.
"Hey, looking good there. Shame about the woman? If we weren't working... tch."
"Damn, are we in any position to talk like that? Hey mister. If you don't want to see anything nasty, get out now. Can't you hear the gunfire inside?"
Come to think of it, my current appearance was that of a dignified middle-aged man.
Though the secretary's face was also quite different from usual, the fact that she was a young and beautiful woman hadn't changed.
"Hey whore. I'm thinking of calling you later, how much?"
Perhaps we didn't look like a normal male-female relationship.
"Unfortunately, not in front of me at least. There's a limit to stealing another man's woman."
"Ha, spent some money and calling a whore your woman... Hey, want to die?"
A mercenary who looked full of vigor pulled out a handgun and aimed it at me.
"Whoa whoa... calm down. I'm an innocent civilian. You're going to shoot?"
"Is there any reason not to? No police here, and I've been pent up anyway..."
"Oh dear."
I shook my head. I wanted to observe the situation more, but the other party's response was unnecessarily rough.
Turning my head awkwardly, I could see my secretary's frozen expression.
I'm scared. Several times, dozens of times more scared of her frozen face than this tiny handgun aimed at my chest.
"Shit, our mission was just to guard this place! Just chase them away, that's enough!"
"Not my problem? As long as we guard the entrance, there were no orders not to kill people in front of it, right?"
"Unnecessary actions..."
Though there seemed to be differing opinions on their side, it wasn't more dangerous or important than my secretary's emotions in front of me.
"...Shall I kill them, young master?"
I don't remember what title we had agreed on beforehand, but we certainly hadn't agreed to use 'young master' in public places.
She had lost her composure. It was a deviation unimaginable for a member of the 'San' family.
"Young master? Oh, so that was your play? Damn. How much money did you give this whore, old man..."
'This fucking bastard...'
I cursed inside. It wasn't because of that mercenary's insults that I was angry.
As if it wasn't bad enough that I had to worry about how to handle this situation with flames blazing high, his behavior of pouring gasoline on it was too detestable.
"Your orders."
"What do you think?"
Her emotions had become too strong. Perhaps impulsive enough to be called an 'error.'
It's not very wise to face a storm head-on when it passes by.
Something beyond my understanding was happening. It was wise to set aside confidence and avoid for now.
"I will kill them."
It's not that she lacks thought or awareness.
She must know that I don't want to fight right now, and she couldn't be unaware that she was extremely excited.
She couldn't be unaware that I wanted her to hold back.
So this was an act tantamount to a very small, subtle, and fragile level of rebellion.
"Shoot."
"Wha-"
Time stopped. The mercenary's movements were also fixed, moving very slowly.
A 'tap' sound like strongly stepping on the ground continuously came from beside me.
She must be handling things well on her own. After moving slightly forward and checking if there were more people behind, the secretary fired two bullets at the man hiding in the car.
Then, after checking the finger of the man pointing the gun at me with a surprised face, she sighed in relief upon realizing that trigger hadn't been pulled.
But this stopped time didn't end. Even after finishing everything, she blankly stared at my face.
"...Hmm?"
Our eyes met. The startled secretary hastily deactivated the body acceleration device.
Returning to her cold and calm face, she reported the situation as if nothing had happened.
"These four seem to be all who were waiting. I handled them all with non-lethal rounds, so don't worry."
"Seems like you've calmed down a bit."
"I'm not swayed by personal emotions."
I clicked my tongue at her brazenness, but I had no desire to point it out in this situation.
"No major problems will arise. We had to go in anyway... and they weren't the type to leave alone while lurking around."
"It was a preemptive measure."
"Wait."
I had an ominous feeling. Specifically, the sound of numerous vehicles approaching was unnaturally loud and numerous.
"Quite a lot seems to be coming."
The secretary frowned and tapped her head while lost in thought. She was probably checking information through her brain computer.
"This whole area is surrounded. More than we thought... I wonder what kind of people they are."
"You don't know?"
"Unless we connect to the Hansan network through the nerve gear... I'm sorry."
"No... it's fine."
What my secretary said was impossible - even if you brought anyone living in this city, no one could definitively say 'it's possible.'
"We have no choice."
"Let's go in. Well, it has its own romance."
The gunfire intensified. Though it was like charging toward the enemy, getting too far from Doris's mercenary group was also quite troublesome.
"I'll go first."
The secretary nodded, jumped up like a rabbit, lightly hung on the wall, and crossed over the factory's outer wall.
After watching her fondly from below, I soon followed after her.
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