Playing with Fire (5)
"They're running away! Chase them!"
"T-the ones who went ahead are all dead! It's a body acceleration device. They weren't opponents we should have messed with!"
"Damn it, how many times do you think that rat can use that ability? This is our chance!"
It was a reasonable guess.
The Doris Mercenary Group was a fairly well-known mercenary group. Those who were knowledgeable about information knew that their leader was using a body acceleration device.
But that was it.
Unless you were a top-tier talent picked up by a corporation before the age of ten and put through murderous training, you couldn't use a body acceleration device more than three times.
Installing a body acceleration device on your body was something anyone could do if they had enough money and found a reliable doctor.
Excluding the fact that body acceleration devices were hard to obtain even with money, it wasn't strange that someone might somehow luckily obtain one and have it implanted in their body.
"That's what the ones who went ahead thought, and they all died!"
The bullets from the unknown sniper and the shower of bullets from the rabbit-eared mercenary were fierce, but at least they weren't at a level impossible to deal with.
Though the firepower wasn't light, mercenaries should always be ready to fight.
Running away from guns was something civilians did, not something mercenaries who lived off contract money should do.
But this was different. The mercenaries who had used their comrades' corpses as cover and approached close to their target, seemingly about to achieve victory at any moment, were instantly lying on the ground with their heads blown apart.
"That damn coward, just because... You, after I put bullets in their heads... Know that you're next!"
The experienced mercenary made a more rational and reasonable choice.
Escaping from an abandoned building full of mercenaries wasn't easy, and that woman had already activated her body acceleration device more than four times.
Being cautious was fine to a certain extent, but hesitating when there was no reason not to enter was just the attitude of a frightened rookie.
"Follow me! Do you think we're the only mercenaries targeting them? If we don't take this chance—
The squad leader, who was raising his head and encouraging other mercenaries, was struck by a bullet from somewhere and collapsed with a thud.
"Ugh, aaaaah!"
Another corpse was added.
"We need to move now! Run!"
"Urgh..."
Doris kept moving her legs without rest, but her body, which had already reached its limit, was screaming for help.
"If only... this one bullet... hadn't hit..."
A stray bullet had hit her leg. Most were deflected by her implants, but some bullets had found their way into what little exposed flesh remained.
"...Are you really okay? Should I carry you?"
Ravina looked at Doris with worried eyes. Doris bit her lips hard and shook her head.
"I'm fine. I'm... too heavy..."
Although she wasn't carrying it now, Ravina was someone who could easily carry heavy weapons when needed for missions. There was no reason she couldn't carry and run with the weight of a single adult woman.
But Doris's body wasn't made of just flesh and blood. The weight of metal and mechanical devices prioritized combat effectiveness over being lightweight and transportable.
"Huff..."
It wasn't too burdensome when moving with her own body. It wasn't like they were going to use someone with combat implants as a biological turret, and the strength and motor abilities enhanced by the implants were enough to move that enormous weight like a feather.
But it wasn't light enough for Ravina to carry and move around effortlessly.
"I should have... huff... lost some weight... earlier."
"It's not like you can lose it just because you want to."
To withstand the recoil of the body enhancement device, one needed to have sufficient strength themselves.
"Over there! We need to subdue them right n... Argh!"
Ravina's perked-up ears were revealing every movement of the pursuers.
The pursuers who had finally found the Doris Mercenary Group lost their lives helplessly to her rifle bullets.
"That's true too. Who else would kill those guys chasing us from behind if not for you? I'll try walking on my own legs, huff, just a little..."
"...Just hold on a little longer. I'll figure something out!"
From the moment they decided to escape, their tactical advantage of terrain melted away like snow.
Luna, who had been sniping while changing positions, had already joined them, and the Doris Mercenary Group, which had been forcing numerous binary choices with decoys and traps, was now in a position of being forced to make those choices.
They couldn't know which room or which staircase might have pursuers hiding in them right now.
If they carefully checked each one, they would encounter the pursuers chasing them from behind, and if they ignored them and ran through, they would be helplessly caught in an ambush.
"This much... ugh, I think we've held up well..."
It was an inevitably disadvantageous fight. No matter how underrated they were compared to their actual skills, they couldn't win against dozens or hundreds of mercenaries without taking any damage.
Dangerous incidents kept occurring. And the reason these incidents didn't lead to fatal losses was thanks to Doris's body acceleration device being used at the right moments.
For someone without defensive measures like enhanced skin, avoiding bullets through autonomic manipulation without consciousness, or having the same body acceleration device, the combat power of a body acceleration device was absolute.
But that power clearly came with a price. It was a devil's contract kind of power that ate away at her life and flesh.
"Hey, stop using that now. If you break down here, you'll really die."
"...I'll make that judgment."
As they continuously descended the abandoned building, they could now feel that the first floor was getting close.
But they weren't ready to fight. The moment they left this building, countless mercenaries' bullets would be targeting them.
"Hmm, this... Is this how it ends?"
"Don't say useless things! We all have to escape alive! With just this much..."
What interrupted Ravina's words was a door suddenly opening from a room they thought was empty.
"Hmm, this is interesting. Hide and seek... feels like I've returned to childhood."
"There's too much dust on your clothes. Let me dust them off for you."
A middle-aged man's deep voice. A tone too peaceful and natural for this chaos.
There were no signs of fighting. In other words, it meant he had been able to enter here without conflict with the mercenaries.
Once they realized that one of Hansan's executives was involved in this excessive attack, they couldn't help but be suspicious.
Doris wasn't given time to think. Her eyes met with that man's.
'Tch...'
She hadn't imagined she would die in a place like this, no. While she hadn't imagined she might die, now Doris could feel that she didn't have much time left.
There was no time.
Hansan had taken everything from her. When thinking carefully, it was closer to an unfortunate accident, but the fact that Hansan was the cause hadn't changed.
They were so brazen and terribly proud. They refused to take any responsibility for people's deaths and didn't try to comfort or sympathize with her.
To a young girl forced into rough society at an early age, they became a suitable target for revenge worth dedicating her life to.
But now she had no chances left.
The mercenaries Hansan had called were endless. She had prepared plenty of traps and explosives thinking 'this should be enough,' but they kept coming, stepping over corpses.
So many people had died that mercenary prices in the area had skyrocketed, and most of them moved to claim the bounty on her head even after seeing those corpses.
Then, this might be her last chance.
'Not bad.'
It could have been worse. She could have died on the street, being played with by the corporation until the end, unable to do anything.
What she had aimed for. It seemed she wouldn't be able to achieve her goal of climbing to the highest place and creating a wound large enough to change the world.
But if it was just putting one bullet in the face of Hansan's 'high-ranking person', it was a level she could somewhat compromise with.
The pistol was already drawn. Doris's hand rose, and her finger pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit his forehead.
With the heavy sensation lodged between my eyebrows, I realized something had gone wrong.
I was lucky. I hadn't known that my hesitation about what 'face' to show until the end would be helpful.
But how should I respond to this? I frowned as I slowly peeled off my shattered face.
There was still a disguise left. The face of a young man 'who wasn't Han Sanwoo' that I used for public activities was covering my real face.
"Wait."
As if soothing a fierce dog, I carefully restrained my secretary.
"But she has clearly inflicted harm on you, young master. Clearly."
It wasn't wrong. My rather expensive 'middle-aged' mask had been destroyed beyond repair.
"These things happen in life. The situation was quite urgent, right? When you're exhausted, it's not strange to shoot everyone you see."
I wasn't happy with my voice at all. When my face broke, there must have been a problem with the connected voice modulator.
I reached inside my clothes to remove that device and put it in my pocket.
"It's been a while. First time since we met at that café, right?"
"How... how are you..."
A slight disguise different from my real face, prepared for the worst moment.
But the voice wasn't different. Doris might remember me.
"You were Hansan's person? And now you're betraying us? From when we first met, was this your purpose..."
This is dangerous.
The fact that I got shot wasn't what was important. Meeting Doris's eyes, I could see more clearly that her condition was abnormal.
Unauthorized implants steadily eat away at human willpower. Fighting does the same, and a body acceleration device that puts strain on both mind and body simultaneously goes without saying.
"Yes, no. No. Take your medicine now. Quickly."
Her pupils were trembling excessively. Her body was shaking, and her muscles were moving unnaturally.
Her brain's perception of time wasn't aligned with this world.
"You must have something, whether it's a sedative or stabilizer. Take it quickly!"
This wasn't a situation to take things slowly. I am, at least regarding her personally, someone who knows the future.
Right now she's fine. With enough rest and proper treatment, she can return to normal.
But if she uses the body acceleration device two more times, no, even once more from here, she'll just collapse.
It's no different from living with a time bomb in her head. Whether that bomb will explode within a year or within a month is unknown, but she can't return to her previous state.
"...First calm down, Doris. You there. Then what's your reason for standing before us now?"
It was Luna. Though we exchanged greetings with bullets, it was fortunate that there was at least one person willing to have a conversation.
"To help. No, now's not the time for such talk! First, the medicine..."
"What about the people chasing us? Are you going to stop them for us?"
In Doris's current state, she would collapse as soon as the sedative was administered.
"...Of course."
I nodded. When I glanced slightly at my secretary, she immediately ran toward the pursuers.
"That's what we came here for in the first place."
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