Chapter 10: Witch

Chapter 10: Witch

Caf Vasilisa was a spacious caf with a noticeably clean interior compared to the streets it was on.

At first glance, the customers occupying the seats appeared to be ordinary people who were engaging in small talk over cups of coffee.

Everyone here is hiding something.

Most were concealing weapons or concealing their magical powers. They were all professionals connected to Tudor in some way.

A bulky man who was scooping up parfait at a table near the door noticed me and smirked before he turned to speak to a gloomy woman seated opposite him.

Looks like weve got a new di*khead today.

Yeah, Tudor will be pleased.

There was no need to pay attention to such petty squabbles. Fighting here would yield no benefit.

Since I showed no particular reaction, their interest quickly waned.

That was to be expected. Wearing a mask might hold peoples attention in any other place, but not in this caf.

Here, there were people even more bizarre than me.

Just look at that man taking orders at the counter!

His body was clearly human. He was an attractive guy with a nice, well-toned body that would remind you of a model or PT trainer.

He dresses well, too. He was neatly dressed in a white dress shirt and tight black apron.

But his head!

On his head wasnt a human head but a large, old-fashioned CRT monitor.

And the monitor on his head was actually functioning properly.

Displayed on it was a large, green dot graphic of a single eye that was moving around.

Though it seemed impossible for him to have vision in that eye, he often blinked or moved the eye image and he made eye contact with people.

No matter how unusual a mask I wear, I cant top that.

Those unfamiliar with him might mistake it for headgear, but it was not merely a monitor worn over his head; it was actually his head.

His name was Orb.

Once you got to know the place a bit, you would learn that his name Orb actually came from object head.

I waited for a customer, who had been choosing a drink, to find a seat before approaching Orb to speak.

Im here to see Tudor.

I knew where Tudor was, but bypassing Orb and going straight there would displease Tudor so this step was unavoidable.

The monitor-headed Orb twitched momentarily, then rolled the eyeball in the large eye image displayed on his monitor. Was he trying to be cute?

Depending on your actions with Orb here, you could unlock various responses and small but entertaining events.

But I had already enjoyed the story of [Cthulhu World] enough as a game, so that was fine. I needed money immediately.

Hey, Orb. Im looking for work that a mage can do.

Upon hearing his name, Orb displayed a large [!] on his monitor.

Then he opened his mouth well, he doesnt have one. Anyway, he emitted a strangely truncated synthetic voice from somewhere around his face.

-Go. Over. There.

As he said this, he extended his hand to point to a corner of the caf.

A [] symbol also appeared on his monitor screen.

In the direction he pointed, there was a space hidden behind several large potted plants.

In that secluded area was a white sofa bed, said to be made of monster leather, reserved for Tudors use only.

Tudor usually spends her time lounging around on that sofa bed.

As I approached the sofa bed, I saw Tudor as expected, half-reclining there as she read some boring novel.

She was clad in a dress with a wide fit and flowing decorations, not in a modern style but more reminiscent of a medieval witchs attire.

There was even a tall pointed witchs hat that was placed on the table beside the sofa.

This wasnt just a costume.

Tudor was a witch. An original witch.

As I got closer, Tudor under her long red hair, tilted her pale face upwards to look at me.

Though it would have looked great if she was holding a wand in the hand that was not holding the novel, what she was holding in her hand now was not a wand but a long, ornately decorated tobacco pipe.

And the unspoken second criterion was to be interesting enough to catch Tudors fancy.

Still, I cant just turn away a mage like yourself. Alright, come this way. Lets build trust and get to know each other slowly.

With a smile, Tudor pulled back a curtain on one wall.

Beyond the curtain was a door marked Staff Only. Tudor explained that it led to her office and ushered me inside.

Now that I think about it, the office was a space that was not depicted back in the game

Usually, at this point in the game, a close-up of Tudor would appear, followed by a dialogue box to click for tasks.

The first thing that caught my eye in Tudors office was the large mahogany desk at its center.

It was as big as two regular desks put together, cluttered with a messy array of papers and miscellaneous items.

Cleaning was Orbs responsibility.

But seeing that the desk alone was in such a state, it seemed like Orb was not allowed to touch it.

Tudor dragged a chair from a corner of the room and seated me in it.

Sit here. I have a feeling youll show something interesting. Ill offer you a very favorable contract.

No sooner had she finished speaking than a few sheets of paper scattered on the desk flew up and landed in front of me.

The contract was filled with long-winded prohibitions, clauses about non-interference with each other, and various other stipulations regarding confidentiality.

It was mostly a formality anyway, with nothing particularly noteworthy.

Great, the contract is complete. I dont know how you found out about this place, but you did well. Lets get along well from here on.

I agree. And Id like to get straight to business.

Hmm, I thought you might say that. Take a look at this.

Tudor handed me a bounty hunting mission as an introductory task. The document she presented contained the personal details of a certain individual.

A bounty hunt, then.

As I said before, I cant entrust you with the type of work that directly connects you to the client until you prove sufficient trust.

A bounty hunt boils down to simply capturing the target and delivering them.

Theres no need to interact with clients, and if I fail, they can simply send someone else.

This makes bounty hunting a good task to be assigned as a test, which is why its typically the first assignment given, regardless of where you go.

Alright, the contract is signed Somehow I made it this far.

Up to this point, I could control the situation.

Which broker to meet.

What kind of contract to sign.

But which target Tudor would assign was random.

If you think outside the game logic, its understandable.

Tudor must be constantly managing people, so depending on when I arrived, the available bounties would vary.

In short, it was like a bounty gacha.

It was a gacha where the difficulty level changed depending on who was chosen. I hoped it would be an easy one

Looking at the photo attached to the document, I recognized a familiar face.

It was a man with a dragonfly tattoo under his eye and he looked to be wildly excited as if the photo was taken right after he took some hallucinogen.

His name is Lee Chang-hyuk. His occupation he claims to be a rocker or a singer, but in reality, hes just a guy who occasionally performs in bars. His main job is closer to that of a fixer or a thug. He even has a fixer name; was it Victor?

Of course, I had never met him in real life. But I had encountered him often in the game.

Lee Chang-hyuk was almost a dud in terms of the gacha.

Seeing my grimace as I read the document, Tudor seemed to misunderstand and smiled as if amused.

Right. Hes got the skills to survive in the back alleys.

thats not a problem.

Since I couldnt tell Tudor that I knew Lee Chang-hyuk from the game, I answered by pretending to look at the part of the document where Lee Chang-hyuks specifications were written.

Lee Chang-hyuks abilities were nothing special. To me now, he was just a guy called Chang-hyuk nothing more. There were two reasons why he was a problem.

He was hired by a company called Helistic to escort a research sample. Turns out, it wasnt just any item, but an artifact smuggled in from a special region. Bold as he is, he swallowed it and fled. Thats why hes now a target.

Helistic is a biotech company that develops things like cancer treatments. In Paju, they had several research projects including Helistics headquarters. One of them was the [K-3675 Secret Research Facility] I escaped from.