From the moment he escaped the factory, Lennok had been thinking about the money he had.
Luckily, he stole the money from the supervisors and came out, but it was impossible to continue with just this.
In the end, it is said that you have to find a corner where money can come out somewhere, but Lennok, who has no knowledge of this world and has a weak body, has no other way.
He had no choice but to use his magical talents.
It is impossible for Lennok, who has no special status, to find a decent job in the sun.
In the end, the only thing Lennok chose was to head to Area 49, where the gloomy mana flowed again.
‘I listened to the man in preparation for something like this.’
Recalling the route I heard from the man who saved me from the gangsters, I turn around the alley and head to the basement of a shabby gambling house.
Even at dawn, there was a small bar with soft lighting.
Entering the bar, Lennok’s face suddenly changed to that of a young man with a languid impression.
Maybe it’s the time when the night is over and dawn is coming, so there are less than three customers left in the bar.
In the middle of the bar, an elderly man lazily raised his glass and mixed his drink.
Lennok sat sideways from the old man and ordered a cocktail. The old man didn’t listen any further and mixed something in moderation and put it out.
After he put down his glass, Lennok spoke to the old man.
“I want to find something a wizard can do.”
Basement manpower office. This was the place to find the job the man had told me about.
He said that he would arrange a suitable job for the old man who was beaten up by a bully, so it wouldn’t be too dangerous for Lennok.
Hearing Lennok’s words, the old man hesitated for a moment, then silently tapped his glass four times.
Silence fell and someone walked out of the space behind the bar yawning.
“Ha ha… hey. Business hours are over. I’m about to fall asleep, what are you doing?”
A sharp-looking woman with wet hair brushed back as if wet with water said while staring at Lennok.
Dressed in a loose-fitting shirt and black leather pants, she exuded a languid yet bloody spirit.
To put it bluntly, he was not very suitable as a waiter at a bar.
The old man standing next to him opened his mouth for the first time.
“It’s a wizard.”
“…..You’re a wizard?”
In Lennok’s experience, the treatment of wizards in this world is not so bad.
Perhaps her thoughts were similar, instead of an annoyed expression, doubts began to creep in.
“Hmm, he looks more like a patient than a wizard… isn’t he a test subject that escaped from a laboratory somewhere?”
Even under this dim light, Lennok’s complexion didn’t look very good.
When he didn’t respond, she convinced herself and sat down across the bar.
“What good. That’s not important. No matter how many talented wizards there are, they are not enough. i’m jenny What about that one?”
I can’t give you my first name
Lennok was thinking of creating a new identity to use when working here, along with this magically created face.
What he said after thinking about it was the name of the man who first spoke to him at the factory.
“……half.”
“Okay half. I don’t know who heard it, but it’s no big secret that our bar arranges this and that, so let’s move on. Are you looking for something a wizard can do?”
“okay.”
Lennok deliberately kept his answer short.
It was because he judged that it was risky to hand over the information before he could figure out what kind of person Jenny was.
She raised her eyebrows at Lennok’s answer.
“Then I need to know what level of mage you are. Then wouldn’t we be able to find a job suitable for that level?”
“You mean the level?”
“Well, there is no need to reveal what kind of unique magic system you learned… but you do need to know what kind of system it is.”
“…….”
Jenny’s expression turned bloody in an instant, as if she had accepted the silence in a different way.
“I don’t think that’s possible, but… it wouldn’t be fun if you learned popular magic and insisted on being a wizard.”
Lennox let go of his glass and stretched out both of his fingers.
It raises mana while strongly recalling images.
As the bright magic light shone on the faces of the three, Lennok’s magic was realized.
Pajijiji!!
“…..It was a lightning-type magician. Excuse me for this.”
Jenny, who saw the bright blue current between Lennok’s palms, said shyly.
Attribute magic is powerful and intuitive, but it takes a lot of time to learn and is difficult to apply, so it is famous for having a higher level of difficulty than symbolism.
Just now, Lennok used magic without any chant or hand seal, and an orthodox wizard who had been digging into the related field for over ten years could do this without a chant.
Even the old man standing next to him nodded quietly, but Lennok had no intention of stopping here.
Showing all his abilities should be respectful, but he needed to prove himself outstanding among the many workers who frequented this bar.
Concentrate your mind and gently move the magic flowing through your hands.
The moment Lennok twitched his fingers, the old man’s and Jenny’s expressions changed drastically.
“……!!!”
The current flowing through his fingers split into five branches, and he began to draw a small pentagram as he moved gracefully.
A skill that would be impossible to even attempt without the ability to control mana finely in centimeters.
As if the two were well aware of it, the way they looked at Lennok quickly changed.
Only then did Lennox dissipate and pick up his glass again.
“As you can see, I’m somewhat confident in my skills, so I’d like to introduce you to a decent job.”
“… He’s a pretty decent guest for someone who came early in the morning. I like it.”
Jenny replied with a grin.
“But even on our side, it is impossible to entrust you with an important task right now. After working together a few times and exchanging trust in moderation, we too can connect good clients. In that sense, for the time being, what you can do will be decided. Are you okay?”
“understood.”
“good. Then let’s write a contract.”
The two people’s agreement was not over, and the work was carried out in an instant.
After signing a sham employment contract stating that they are not bound by each other’s freedom and responsibility, Jenny brought a thick pile of files from the back of the bar.
“Then shall we begin? I’ve crawled all the way here, so I’m sure there won’t be anything to hide.”
“As long as you don’t touch civilians.”
I want to avoid being pursued by the police or military after hurting an innocent person.
Jenny also shook her head as if she hadn’t even thought about it.
“It’s not going to be like that in the slightest, so it’s good to be at ease. Look at this first.”
I open the file folder and push the documents inside to Lennok.
All kinds of papers that have been profiled and recorded. There are dozens of photos of people of all ages and genders hanging on each piece of paper, and among them, an unknown number is printed in large numbers.
Lennok looked down at it for a while before he realized the meaning of the number.
“….prize?”
“It has the advantage of good accessibility, easy to determine achievements, and immediate payment. Bounty Hunters don’t exist for nothing.”
As Jenny said that, she pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Lennok.
“It’s a very suitable gateway to sort out the idiots. Are you thinking of doing it?”
“It’s been a while since I came to the city… I’m not in a position to cover it.”
As Lennok said that, he took a closer look at the face of the person in the picture.
A young man with flabby skin and a nervous expression. He is smoking a cigarette with his faded brown hair in an asymmetrical stroke.
“My name is Taylor Evans. He is a former scavenger and is suspected of attempting to steal Achilles’ security equipment transported from the Area 31 port three days ago.”
Chase
“You mean it ended in an attempt?”
“There’s no way the garbage floating in the gutter could have breached Achilles’ security. All the other scavengers who planned the crime together were killed, and only this one remained and succeeded in escaping. Achilles gave up after this and left the garbage disposal to us.”
Just listening to her words, it seemed that the power gap between the company called Achilles and the organization called Scavenger was enormous.
“The scavenger branch to which this guy belonged has long since left, so even if his hands are a bit rough, there won’t be any problems.”
“Hmm…”
“The bounty is 3 million cells. It’s not a huge amount, but it’s not too bad for catching a rat. how is it?”
3 million.
It’s an absurdly large amount for Lennok, who was suffering from a lack of tens of thousands of cells a week ago, but he hesitates to accept it.
‘It’s too vague.’
Having spent a week in the city, Lennok had a rough idea of how vast it was and how crowded it was.
Right now, District 49, where the entertainment district is located, is a completely different world from the downtown area where the library was located.
It seemed like it would take too much work to find a person in a place like this with just one photo. Lennok rummaged through the files in search of useful information. He found something and touched it with his hand.
“Looking here, it says that a blood sample was taken.”
“uh? Well… we have it for now.”
“Can I have it?”
“I could give it to you… but it won’t be very useful.”
Jenny had an old man take out samples from the back of the bar with a puzzled look on his face.
A torn hem stained with blood.
She said as Lennok put it in his arms and stood up.
“What are you going to do?”
“It will help.”
“You better stop thinking about going to the blood mage. Because they are money demons who receive and eat more than 5 million cells per case, they will not be able to even break even. But otherwise, the sample would only be useful for background checks.”
Achilles didn’t hand it over for nothing. While saying that, I ignored Jenny who shrugged and walked out of the bar.
Although she talked about the blood mages, Lennok had no intention of going to them and seeking help.
Lennok knew a little about the blood magic type magic. Although the process of preparing magic is simple and powerful, they are those who always have to live with the risk of reducing their lifespan due to the series magic that has a strong reaction.
It wasn’t a problem in the game, but it’s a completely different story in real life.
It is understandable that the blood mages are expensive, as it is a magic that uses life force in exchange.
It was just that there was no reason to borrow the hands of those who said they would catch a thief.
Lennok, who had settled down in a secluded place to avoid people’s eyes, crouched down and set the torn hem of his clothes on the ground.
“…..[Bloody Chase].”
As he pours his mana with determination, a magic circle about 1 meter in diameter began to be engraved on the floor centered on the hem.
Woooo!!
The magic circle, which shone bright red and sucked up the blood stains on his clothes, vibrated softly, then turned into a red thread and started crawling on the floor like a snake.
Seeing it, Lennok got up and walked along the thread.
This common magic is favored by hunter-type jobs that use magic, and is mainly used for locating or tracking lost prey.
If the duration is not long and bloodstains are mixed, proper tracking is impossible, and it simply tells the direction rather than the distance, so it can be nullified with a simple distraction magic, but the opponent doesn’t seem to have such a means.
After walking for a while in the direction the thread points, the people move away and the air turns pale. A closed railway section next to an unknown construction site, where the smell of people faded, caught my eye.
On top of the rusty rails, people in shabby matting were lying instead of railroad tracks.
No one has a normal complexion, and a strange smell penetrates the mask as if they are passing urine and feces casually.
The good and the bad of the city. It seemed to be a place where stragglers, who were not welcome anywhere, went to sleep.
Among them, Lennok, who confirmed that the thread was fixed toward the man leaning against the wall at a certain corner of the railroad, walked slowly and stood in front of him.
“Taylor Evans?”
“…”
Lennok sighed as he looked down at the man who seemed dead and motionless.
While maintaining a thorough safety distance, he took out the cutting machine he had stolen from Yangachi.
Did you say that Dyke’s products were remodeled? When I pressed the two buttons on the front and back of the handle at the same time, a bluish light source came out of the cutter.
“Oh this…”
It looks like a small lightsaber.
The moment Lennok gave a little admiration and poised to shoot the beam into the man’s thigh——
the man who hadn’t moved until now began to run away frantically, turning sideways.
“……..”
Lennok shook his head as he watched Taylor pull away without looking back.
I was fully prepared to repel an attack, but I never thought that I would run away without even resisting.
Despite his skinny appearance, he was running quite fast, so he seemed to be out of sight in no time.
For a brief moment, Lennok’s head spun rapidly.
Lennok was perfectly in control of the situation, and he had many options.
You can follow them directly, or you can cast Silence magic on them and shoot them like you did before.
However, I need Yeoncho’s help to run with this body, and I’m not sure if I can hit it properly even if I shoot at such a distance.
So Lennok chose the third option.
It raises its mana and swaying wildly, it strikes straight into the air. A clear thought and strong will spread out around the left hand, creating a hazy wave.
[Sound Wave]
Pan!!
Along with Lennok’s chant, an intangible shock wave swayed and spread forward like a wave on the medium of air.
The speed at which the medium travels forward is the speed of sound.
The intangible shockwave that spreads out with terrifying momentum catches up with the fugitive in an instant.
Tuong!
It took less than 3 seconds for Taylor, who was running like crazy, to lose his balance and fall apart.
Lennok walked slowly towards where he had fallen.
After walking out of Jenny’s bar for quite some time, her stamina starts to run out. If you do not properly control your breathing, you will have to rely on the beginning of the year again.
After inhaling smoke in succession while researching magic, there really weren’t even five of them left.
After work, I felt I should ask Jenny about how to get these things.
Taylor Evans was twitching, covering both ears with both hands.
Red blood flowed from between his fingers.
Common magic [Soundwave]. It is a magic used to search for surrounding objects like a bat through sonic vibrations, but if the output is increased, this kind of power can be created.
When he was a horse musketeer, he couldn’t even try other than the prescribed method, but with Lennok’s talent, it was enough just to materialize the image when using magic.
Probably not only the eardrum, but also the cochlea is all smashed.
I couldn’t hear anything, and I wouldn’t even be able to walk properly.
“hmm.”
I looked down at the completely subdued and trembling Taylor, lost in thought.
The first thing Lennok thought about after completing the study of common magic was to protect himself.
It was because he was well aware of how important it was to protect himself from not just physical access, but various attempts to jeopardize his safety in various ways.
Lennox could suffer the same as Taylor if he didn’t properly protect his senses.
His fragile body would not be able to withstand even one such attack.
The moment I grabbed the fallen Taylor’s ankle and turned around while thinking about that.
Taang!!
A gunshot was heard, and the force field of magical power flashed and shattered around Lennok.
The barrier-type magic that Lennok had prepared in advance reacted to the shooting that came from somewhere.
It was a type of barrier that could be applied at all times with one implementation, so it was so fragile that it could be destroyed with a single bullet.
But it was more than enough to give Lennok a moment to react to the attack.
It was because the moment the barrier exploded, Lennok’s thinking and magic moved simultaneously and created a new force field.
The time it took to complete the barrier, dozens of times stronger than before, was only a fraction of a second.
At this level, even if hit by an anti-tank rocket, it can survive for a while.
The moment he was sure of his safety, Lennok lit a cigarette and at the same time quickly spread his mana in all directions and began to search for people.
Slowly, you forget the fatigue accumulated in your body and your body becomes much lighter.
Even though he was shot in the blink of an eye, Lennok’s head is very calm.
The mind that was complicated by worries about the future and life in the future coolly subsides in front of a life-and-death situation.
Leaving aside emotions and fears, reason and strong mental power as a wizard rise to the surface and fill Lenok.
‘doesn’t exist.’
I sparingly released the increased amount of magic power and swept the 1km radius, but I couldn’t feel anything except for the tramps.
Either he sniped from a distance beyond that distance, or he hid his presence using a method that was too good to be found through simple magic detection.
Either way is equally difficult.
But for this trembling man with his ears covered… is it worth it?
Lennok’s eyes, which had been hovering over the fallen Taylor, were fixed precisely on his head at some point.
‘Come to think of it, the part where the gunshot was fired was the lower part of the barrier. At first, I thought it was just to subdue me…’
What if it was actually aimed at the head of someone who had fallen down?
As soon as reasonable assumptions are made, reasoning follows.
The conclusion was drawn in an instant.
‘You used your hand to block Taylor Evans’ mouth.’
It’s probably an organization called Scavenger. Could it be that there is an after story somewhere in Achilles’ head that shouldn’t go into his ears?
Then it makes sense that the sniping went in after Lennok found Taylor.
If the target is removed while the Bounty Hunter is following up, most hunters will carry it as it is and brag about their achievements.
Even the fact that the scavenger tried to silence it will be buried and disappear.
But Lennok had no intention of letting the sniper, who was openly shooting himself in front of him, stand still.
From the moment you start working, you must be firm in your work and keep your hands brutal.
At least, Lennok intended to make the human ‘Van’ that way. The more he is known as a cruel and cold-hearted person, the fewer people will interfere with his money-making.
As soon as he made up his mind, Lennok pulled out a pistol from his bosom and shot Taylor in the head.
Taang!!
Taylor, who was wriggling with a harsh gunshot, died instantly.
Jenny said that she preferred to be captured as much as possible, but in other words, she didn’t even have to be alive.
Of course, if this happened, the ‘back story’ in Taylor’s head would be buried forever… but Lennok wasn’t interested in that secret.
The only thing that matters to him now is to find the sniper who pointed a gun at him and punish him.
All of this is just a process for him.
‘found.’
A faint commotion the moment Lennok killed Taylor.
Lennok did not miss the waves of magical power that swayed accordingly.
The viewing
distance is about 600 meters. Rather than increasing the distance by more than 1km, Lennok’s guess that he was avoiding detection in some special way was correct.
At the moment when the position was specified, Lennok raised his mana and rotated it around his right hand.
Woooo!!
It jumps over space and scatters into the sky with a strange sensation as if its magical energy is overturned.
I know it as a knowledge, but it is the first time to use it.
Among the common magic, applied magic that is like a symbol of the lightning class boasting the power of being held in one hand.
[Thunder Calling]
The moment I felt the blue magic light flashing in the air, a single lightning bolt descended from the barren sky and struck my head.
lightning strike.
Kwaaaaang!!
An earthshaking vibration. Blue light flashes along with belated thunder.
Lennok gazed at the scene with interest.
When I saw other wizards using it in the game, I didn’t feel anything, but seeing lightning implemented in reality like this gave me a strange feeling.
More than expected. There seemed to be a lot of garage to say that lightning magic was used anywhere.
died?
If you don’t run away the moment you notice it, you can never avoid it.
Lenok immediately headed to the place where the lightning struck, but there was no trace of the body except for a pit with a diameter of about 2m.
Did he leave the seat the moment he raised his mana?
Lennok thought about continuing to pursue the sniper, but gave up.
This would have been enough warning for others who might be secretly watching this place.
It wouldn’t be enough to spread the name of ‘Van’, a lightning-type magician.
don’t ask for much It was enough if there were no useless checks or obstructions like now in his duties.
Of course, if you act like this, there will be more and more people who pry behind him… but isn’t he wearing a new face to avoid that?
Lennok believed in his magical talents. It is a reverse talent created by exchanging life span.
No matter how good the wizards of this world may be, Lennok’s talent will never be lacking.
There was nothing I could do without believing so.
Suppressing his faint anxiety with firm reason, Lennok collected Taylor’s corpse, put it in a sack prepared in advance, and carried it away.
Maybe it was because he smoked tobacco in preparation for an unexpected hand-to-hand combat, but he didn’t lack much strength.
Of course, after the effect of acting wears off, he may suffer from muscle pain, but he does not strengthen his muscles with magic.
For him, magical power is the most powerful weapon and the last bastion. Except when facing the enemy, it was necessary to save and use it as sparingly as possible.
Turn around the way you came and head to Area 49.
Blood dripped from the inside of the sack, but no pedestrians around here were sensitive enough to care about that.
I arrived at Jenny’s bar located in the back of the area, but the shutters are closed.
Lennok thought for a moment before banging on the closed shutter.
After a while, an old voice came from inside.
“Business hours are from 8pm.”
“I got Taylor Evans.”
A moment of silence passed. The old man, who understood the meaning somewhat later, sighed and said.
“……There is a back door at the back of the building, so enter through that.”
Indeed, as the old man said, there was a small side door at the back of the building.
When I opened the door and went inside, I was greeted with a similar yet different scene from the previous bar.
An old man was staring at him from across the counter divided by a single glass.
The old man said as he saw Lennok coming in carrying a sack.
“When we talk about work in the future, please use this side. Originally, I should have said it when you first came, but Jenny and I accidentally forgot.”
“All right. Let’s check this first.”
Lennok replied and put the sack he was carrying on the table.
thud!
“This is Taylor Evans himself.”
“Wait a minute.”
The old man sighed, then put on his gloves under the counter and began examining the inside of his bag.
Judging from the fact that his expression didn’t change even when he took the body out in front of him, he wasn’t a normal person either.
“The cause of death was a gunshot wound. He died less than an hour ago. It looks like he hasn’t eaten anything for days, seeing as he had an ear injury before his head was damaged and his nutritional status wasn’t good. Seeing that there is no modification of magical power and all of the organs are intact, it must be the person himself.”
Lennok stuck out his tongue at the sight of the old man putting everything together just by looking at the crumpled figure in the sack.
“Are you a former coroner?”
“I did something similar. Would you like to take the bounty now?”
Lennok nodded, and the old man immediately took out cash and put it on the counter.
“2.7 million cells excluding 10% commission. If you want to receive it in a way other than cash, there will be an additional fee.”
“How about another way?”
“There are many things. There are cases where you want to deposit money into a borrowed-name account or request money laundering for complicated tasks, and there are many exchanges in the form of bonds or stocks.”
Does the financial sector work in a similar way to Earth in the Balkans?
While I was putting the various information the old man said into my head, someone walked through the blackout curtain behind the old man.
“uh? Are you here already?”
Jenny, with a tired face, yawned as she brushed her messy hair.
“Whoa…. I wondered what kind of customer you were at this time, so were you in such a hurry?”
Lennox nodded obediently at Jenny’s crooked smile.
“I just did it because I could.”
“Well, like a wizard, you’re good at it.”
Jenny pulled a chair next to the old man, sat down on it, and asked with her chin on.
“Usually in bounty hunting like this, it takes much longer to find than to kill, but what kind of talent did Mr. Ban have to catch the rat so quickly?”
“I was lucky.”
Jennie laughed at Lennox’s obvious words.
As if she didn’t think she would get a proper answer, she turned around right away.
“If it’s enough to bring results in half a day, it must mean that you can take care of yourself. I hope I can continue working with you in the future.”
“It doesn’t matter if I arrange something else for you right now.”
Anyway, in order to get another job here, I have to stop by District 49.
I wanted to avoid taking two steps for no reason, but Jenny immediately shook her head.
“There’s nothing wrong with that, so go back at once. For now, I’m going to hand over the results of this to the person in charge of Achilles Corp. and check the scavenger’s movement before finishing it.”
“Is once not enough?”
“You speak well. We’ll have to wait and see how well Mr. Ban does his job. Then, wouldn’t we be able to always arrange appropriate deals based on that level?”
“Hmm…”
‘I don’t think that’s the reason.’
Jenny’s words glide on her tongue like grease, but Lennok doesn’t take her words literally.
The reasons she gave sounded reasonable, but there were more times when the reasons that seemed appropriate were actually meaningless.
However, Lennok did not hesitate to hold onto her horse’s tail here, but instead took the cash offered by the old man.
“Then see you next time.”
“…I want to ask you something.”
“what?”
I’ve been thinking about it because I don’t know where to find similar items, but maybe she can give me a decent answer.
Lennok turned and took a cigarette from his bosom and set it down in front of her.
“I am looking for a place that sells something similar to this. It doesn’t have to be in the form of cigarettes, so I want to see as many products as possible.”
“…….”
She said nothing, but Lennok didn’t miss the quick exchange of glances between Jenny and the old man.
Jenny slowly raised her hand to hold the tobacco and began to carefully observe it.
It was as if Lennok had handed over a bomb.
Slowly inspect the appearance, slowly bring it to your nose and smell it.
Her head twitched for a moment, but she quickly returned to a comfortable complexion.
It was only then that Jenny put down the cigarette with a relieved expression and sighed.
“Haa… I thought it would be a newly developed electronic drug again.”
“Do you know what this is?”
At Sunjin’s question, Jenny shook her head.
“It’s just a common symbol. I don’t know the name of the product, but I know the ingredients. Melodys and alpina leaves were ground and mixed, and vegetable oil was poured on them.”
Jenny said as she returned the tobacco to him.
“But don’t you like products that are too cheap for a wizard? If you smoke like this for a long time, what will happen to your hair?”
“You mean the head?”
“okay. The recipe is fucking simple and the broth is crude. Well, I understand that wizards like things like this, but if you want to smoke something, you have to buy something expensive and there are not many side effects.”
“…….”
Well, what he was holding right now was something from the factory supervisor’s pocket.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the product had severe side effects instead of being effective even if the price wasn’t too expensive.
“Anyway, if you like this, go to Plumber’s Orchard. It’s a place where you can set up a big table for smokers like Mr. Ban and do business professionally. There must be something you like.”
As she said that, she gave the approximate location of the ‘orchard’.
Lennok nodded his head after hearing an explanation about what area he was in.
“Thank you for letting me know. Then come back next time.”
“Okay. See you again.”
Lennok’s steps stopped abruptly as he walked away with his back to Jenny, who was waving.
“I just want to ask you one more question.”
“what?”
“Can I hear a similar explanation on the subject of healthy food?”
