＜ Episode 5 ＞
At the very bottom of the city of Luna is the 60th District.
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Most of those born here die here, and since it is the final destination for fugitives from other districts, people from other districts treat you as a potential criminal just hearing that you are from the 60th.
A slum without hope.
That’s the 60th zone.
However, talented people are born everywhere, and it is no different from those who live in the 60th district.
Occasionally, there are people who move to a higher area, but this is where a problem arises.
Is interest really trustworthy?
In the first place, a place called a slum is a place where it is difficult to prove an accurate identity, so someone has to play that role, but the public security officers in the 60th district are also formidably corrupt.
Those who are capable and clean do not come this far in the first place.
It’s a situation where you can’t trust the public power, but it’s impossible to find such romance in the city of Luna in the first place.
So, a reliable guarantor was needed, and brokers play that role.
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Most of the people who come up to the upper zone are fixers or gangs anyway, and those people are bound to do similar things in the upper zone.
What matters is skill and performance.
That is why they were given the authority to issue letters of introduction to the brokers who watched them closest.
A letter of introduction proving that you are a guaranteed talent, unlike those who cross the area without permission and permeate into the underworld.
John asked for a letter of introduction that was like a rope that went beyond the limits of a slum and led to a sunny place.
Everyone seemed to be agitated by John’s words, and then small voices rang out.
“…Well, with that bastard’s skills, the upper districts might be better.”
“You didn’t even have implants. You’ll be found dead as soon as you go?”
“Not necessarily. You’re the type to work with your brain rather than your strength. Maybe it fits the business.”
“It’s been a while since a solver asked for a letter of introduction.”
Various hums penetrated John’s ears, but John’s expression did not change, and the bartender, who was watching John, let out a small sigh.
“···yes. If it were you, it would be okay if I gave you a letter of introduction.”
As if making up his mind, the bartender nodded.
“It will take about a day. Come back at this time tomorrow.”
“I will.”
The moment John, who answered lightly, was about to turn around, the bartender opened his mouth.
“What’s so urgent? If you come, please have a drink.”
“…that would be fine too.”
At the bartender’s unusual attitude, John pushed his butt into a bar stool.
“What are you going to do?”
“Give me a beer.”
“Not fun. Is that the only solver that asks for a letter of introduction?”
John’s expression did not change despite the bartender’s voice provoking in a subtle voice.
profit.
As soon as he opened the bottle, John stared at the cheap beer that frothed violently, then lifted the bottle and brought it to his mouth.
“···Well.”
After drinking the entire bottle, John stood up after enjoying the stimuli of the spicy carbonation for a while.
John, taking a bill from his pocket and placing it on the bar, turned.
“You drank well. Make sure not to forget.”
“yes. Please remember.”
John left the store while being seen off by the bartender with a threatening smile.
***
After exiting the agency and entering the next alley, John lifted the coaster he was holding in his hand.
On the back of the coaster, which was dirty and dirty, it was hard to tell if it was written in a hurry, but John could easily figure out what it was.
“The Gulag Family of 67.”
Only then did John know the reason for the eyes the fixers at the agency were looking at him.
“I thought they said they came over from 67.”
A cause-and-effect relationship was instantly matched in John’s head.
“It’s bothering me.”
The hyenas from the slums would have attacked, so there wouldn’t be any implants or corpses left, but that doesn’t mean there are no traces.
It is said that wizards or shamans only come forward to read the memory of the land in the upper districts, but it would be impossible to raise such high-level personnel even in the slums, so they must have grasped the situation in a more direct way.
There will be those who witnessed the scene where the three of them, now not even a corpse, followed John, and it is not difficult to infer their end since they saw John in good shape.
Above all, John, who appeared like that, asked for a letter of introduction, so experienced fixers must have judged that John must have packed something valuable.
At least worth the risk of moving to a higher zone.
John didn’t even look at the items he had stolen, but it was clear that others wouldn’t think so.
It is extremely rare for gangs from other districts to come over.
Rumors must have already been greatly inflated, and the fixers, gangs, and fixers in District 63, as well as the Gulak family, will be looking for John as soon as the poison rises.
The time the bartender said he would give a letter of introduction is tomorrow.
In other words, John was put in a position where he had to survive in a slum where all sorts of guys were attacking for 24 hours.
It was like a death sentence for John, who had no special strength other than being good at handling weapons and doing things neatly.
I didn’t know if I would lose my life to a bullet or a knife flying from somewhere even now, not 24 hours.
but.
“I can’t.”
John decided to think positively.
Because he was a completely different person than he was yesterday.
“Think of it as a process of getting used to power.”
If you think of it as a process of adapting to the new power engraved on his body, it’s not such a bad thing.
“Howdy. zone.”
And just as John made up his mind, a voice pierced his ears.
***
The bar with the agency and its surroundings were not recklessly approached even by the people of the slum, which was the last resort.
A slum is a place where numerous incidents and accidents occur, and in most cases new resentments accumulate and pile up to the point where there is no way to resolve them, and it is up to the solvers to sort out the situation that has reached the end.
Since the agency was teeming with such solvers, except for a few who were immature and lost their heads, they never raised their heads near the agency and were careful about every action.
In such a place, there would be no one other than the fixer who casually held out his weapon and even smiled brightly.
“slip.”
“yes. Long time no see?”
John’s eyes narrowed at the sight of Slip exaggerating his slender arms.
A prosthetic hand with a clean shape, not a clunky prosthetic hand made illegally by a crappy mechanic in the slums.
In fact, the implants in Slip’s body were composed of products that were difficult to find in the slums, which meant that Slip was not an ordinary solver.
There is also a class for solvers.
There were solvers like John who dealt with small gangs or individual disputes, while there were solvers who were at the top level dealing with large gangs, corporations, or even public security, and Sleep was like that.
Although it does not deal with special abilities, Slip’s fighting power, which was covered with expensive implants that could not be found in slums, had a reputation that it was difficult to find an opponent, at least in Area 63.
“There’s a reason the small pikes don’t come forward.”
“… I mean, it’s quite the same.”
Sleep’s body, which was approaching John with a bright smile and exaggerated gestures, stopped and a fishy smile came to mind.
The strongest slip at the agency went first, so others naturally bowed.
“I don’t know if you believe it, John.”
Sleep, who did not let go of his fishy smile, whispered in a coy voice.
“I think I look pretty good on you? It’s amazing that a naked human can do a fixer, but the work is so clean. You do it when you need to negotiate, and when you need to use your hands, you use it resolutely.”
Slip’s sleek arms were wide open.
“Idiots just try to solve everything by force. Even more so with the idiots here. But since I’ve been working Actually, the smart ones are the scariest.”
Kirik.
A secret sound of movement echoed from both of Slip’s arms.
“So John. If you’re smart enough, you’ll know what works for you. cancer. don’t be like that I mean.”
Sleep’s artificial eyes shone softly.
“Will you give me what you have? Of course you won’t be wiping your mouth. Obviously, it is nonsense if you eat it raw when it is something you obtained with your own hands. I will give you enough compensation in my name.”
At least in Area 63, Slip’s name has weight.
“Let’s do that. yes?”
From the start sound from both arms, the ominously glowing artificial eyes, to the fishy smile and secret voice.
Slip had no doubt that clever John would hand him the goods.
In fact, it was true that Slip had a good opinion of John, and was thinking of recruiting him as one of his subordinates when the time came.
By slum standards, it was a scene of fairly generous and friendly negotiations, but John had a completely different idea.
“That’s a good idea.”
“right?”
Sleep smiled brightly as if he could overpower John at any time.
“I have a slightly different opinion.”
“···What?”
All too naturally, John stepped forward, and at the same time Sleep’s prosthetic eye beeped loudly.
“What?!”
He simply took one step, but John, standing in front of Slip like a lie, opened his mouth with an expressionless face.
“What do you negotiate with someone weaker than me?”
A cold voice without any warmth pierced Sleep’s ears.
bang! bang!
“Ouch!”
A 12-gauge slug bullet fired from zero distance dug into Slip’s abdomen, and the powerful kinetic energy threw Slip’s body, which weighed over 200 kilograms, to the back.
Watching Slip’s body fly across the dark alley, John took another step.
Ting!
The barrel of the sawed-off shotgun snapped, and as soon as the protruding cartridge case hit the floor, the reloaded shotgun flew backwards due to the impact and landed on Slip’s torso, which hit the wall.
“Supernatural ability!”
Thanks to the reinforced alloy, the actual damage to Slip was not great, but even more surprising than that, Slip’s complexion turned white.
“yes.”
John, who made eye contact with Sleep’s artificial eyes at close range, answered.
“That’s it.”
bang! bang!
“Cheak!”
The alley walls made of a composite material of rebar and concrete supported Slip’s body so firmly, and the kinetic energy of the shotgun fired from zero distance made Slip’s whole body vibrate.
Various warning signs and alarm sounds filled the artificial eyeballs, and the unresolved kinetic energy threatened Sleep’s few living parts, but Slip is also formidable.
“Gaah!”
With an incomprehensible scream, Slip’s body began to vibrate loudly.
＜ Episode 5 ＞ End