Capítulo 47: Curtain Call
Craddangtang!
I hear the sound of something breaking inside. And a cracking sound. I couldn't tell what the sound was because it was blocked by the wall, but was it a woman? Or, it sounds like someone about the age of a child swearing wildly.
Today is already the second time. I'm not even working, so what's the fuss? Regardless of my dissatisfaction, my senses worked keenly and I confirmed the form, number, and direction of the magic power fluctuating inside Vasilisa, and I slowly moved one step to the side.
Quaaaang! Craddangtangtang!
The door to Vasilisa's front door opens as if it were about to be smashed open, and a well-built man is seen flying out. And the man fell down where I was standing just a moment ago.
"Kaaaaaa! Collie, you piece of shit!"
The man who flew in jumps up and yells. It seems that he is not an ordinary, wholesome citizen of Paju during the day.
The magical power it possesses is quite good, and the amount of muscle attached to its body is also considerable. Although he wasn't a very clear person, he was able to recall information from the time he played the game just by looking back on his memory for a moment. Fixer's name was JJ, right?
He is just one of the mass-produced NPCs that can be selected as a helper for difficult quests, and is not an important character.
"That rotten snout!"
However, the person who is presumed to have sent him flying has a level of magical power that cannot be compared to someone like JJ. A chair flew from inside Vasilisa at great speed and hit JJ, who was standing there hesitantly, and JJ screamed! It screamed and flew back again.
And then it doesn't move. As if dead.
Of course, I was able to tell that he was not dead because I could sense not only his appearance but also the magic power in his body. The woman running wild inside seems to have guessed that as well.
"Hey, Jay what a bastard! You just lie there. Because I'm coming to kill you!"
JJ, who was lying on the street for a moment, sensed her voice approaching and suddenly got up and ran away into the darkness of the back alleys of Geumchon-dong. And the reason she ran out one step late was… … She was a woman of quite short stature.
Although he was short, he had a flashy appearance that would attract attention anywhere.
Long bleached white hair, a bright red shiny leather jacket, and an absurdly large yam sword held in one hand.
It is as strong as I had previously sensed, and it also contains dark magic. When she saw that Jay Jay was gone, she stamped her foot on the ground and showed her frustration.
"Oh, shit. "You bastard like a raccoon!"
He then spewed directionless curses into the darkness of the back alley.
"If you show that dirty face again Vasilisa, I will cut you off! "You'd better find a broker other than Tudor!"
He's tough. Her name is… … I don't know. Her real name has never been revealed during the game. However, the fixer name is a curtain call. I've seen her in passing a few times while going in and out of Vasilisa, but she's a troubleshooter with whom I've never had anything to do with.
She looked around to see if she was still angry, and then screamed at me.
"What are you! "Why are you there?"
"I'm a guest."
"… … Ah, this was Vasilisa. sorry."
Before she could feel bad or good, she lowered her head to 90 degrees and apologized. If it comes out like that, it's hard to get angry again. So I just shrugged her shoulders and said.
"I'm going into the store, will you please move out of the way?"
"I'm going in too. "Then excuse me."
After saying that at the curtain call, he put away the yam sword he had taken and went into Vasilisa... … .
"collie! "Bring a chair!"
"Oh, I understand!"
… … After hearing Tudor's words, he quickly ran out, grabbed a chair, and went back. As befits a powerful warrior, its movements were almost like a wild boar's lunge. I stood next to her for a moment, avoiding her path, and it seemed strange to the eyes of the curtain caller.
Curtain Call, who was running to get the chair, looked at me and said.
"Why did you stand like that when you said you were a guest?"
"Because if you get hit by that, you could die."
"uh?"
Curtain Call looked up at my mask with a puzzled expression for a moment, looked my body up and down again, and made an expression that made him realize something. To be more specific, it's an expression that says that he was born with a pitifully corrupt body.
"Oh, I see. sorry. "And I'm sorry for suddenly yelling at you earlier!"
With those last words, Curtain Call picked up a chair and disappeared into the store.
"hmm… … Was it that kind of character?"
I entered Vasilisa, tapping my finger on the mask for a moment.
Despite all the commotion, the atmosphere inside Vasilisa was quite normal.
Of course, it wasn't just Vasilisa's usual life with absolutely nothing going on.
Perhaps because the curtain call was an appropriate throw, half-ruined chairs were piled in the corner, a broken cup, and a table cracked as if it had been hit by an axe. It seems to be a remnant of the curtain call that caused a commotion a little while ago. The damaged furniture is just left unattended with no one to clean it up. How did this commotion arise?
It cannot be said to be a safe and quiet place as it is frequented by rough mercenaries and troubleshooters, but it is run by a very charismatic Tudor. In Vasilisa, this type of 'tavern brawl' type event rarely occurs.
'Oh, now that I think about it, there's one more strange thing.'
Yes, Tudor, who has a leisurely life in the world, is not the kind of person who would clean up something like that. This is because, in addition to operating as a brokerage house for troubleshooters, there is someone who handles Vasilisa's major and small affairs as a cafe on Tudor's behalf.
But he is not visible.
Orb, the monitor head barista who can be said to be the icon of this cafe, is missing.
I don't know if it was instead of him or what, but a bald mercenary leaning sideways next to the counter greeted me.
"Hey, it's been a while. how have you been doing?"
This is Kang Il-sam, the problem solver who asked me to join his team before. The fixer name is Thirteen.
"Ah, but what kind of fuss is this? Where did the orb go? And what about Tudor?"
"Ob went out briefly on an errand for Tudor. You'll be back soon? And the Tudors… … ."
Then he points over his shoulder to a table.
At a table in the corner, Curtain Call and Tudor, the small-sized problem solver we saw earlier, are having a conversation.
I don't know what they are talking about, but the tall Tudor whispering something with a kind expression to the short Curtain Caller, at first glance, looks like a young mother reprimanding her child for his misbehavior.
However, the bizarre behavior of the curtain call completely destroyed that structure.
At the curtain call, Tudor listens with a dissatisfied expression... … Chewing on a cup?
It's not a metaphor or a joke. She is chewing the glass while making a crunching sound.
What is that? Why are you eating from the cup? No, it doesn't matter whether someone else rips off the cup or cuts off the table. Rather, the question is why 'that person' is eating from the cup.
I asked Thirteen for more accurate confirmation.
"that… … "Coli, it's a curtain call, right?"
"what? "Do you know him?"
"No, I just brushed his face on the way back."
"Well, Collie is famous. "Most of the fixers on this floor are crazy, but that woman is no joke."
I don't know him because he's famous, I know him because he's a named NPC whose name and face you probably remember, but there's no need to talk about that. I nodded my head moderately to encourage Thirteen's misunderstanding.
"Not long ago, he started showering Orb with a huge barrage of affection. But today, the situation was a bit strange, perhaps because there were no orbs. "In the meantime, JJ got into a pointless argument and an uproar broke out."
"What is that strange setting?"
"ha ha ha! "It's unusual!"
Thirteen chuckled and let it go, but it may not be something to ignore.
weird. It's different from the settings I know. If it was such an unusual setting, it would be easy to remember it, but it was not included in the Curtain Call settings that I knew of.
It was just that it used an unusually large weapon compared to its small body, and there were a few more ambiguous settings that seemed to have been placed to stimulate gamers with specific tastes.
Expressing affection to the orb... … There has never been a setting such as chewing on a glass.
"Has that rare appetite been like that from the beginning?"
"Uhm, that's not it… … "It started to get a little weird from the moment I fell in love with Orb."
"Since when did that happen?"
"well? that is… … one… … Since about two months ago? "I don't know where he came from or what he did, but he seems to have acquired a few special abilities as well as minor insanity."
Changes in personality, taste, and eating habits are not uncommon for problem solvers who work in the darkness of Paju, where beings of madness and abyss run rampant.
Among the people I met, there were dramatic cases like Jang Hyeon-deok, who changed from a driving expert driving a security taxi to a super psychic, and Lee Chang-hyuk, who turned into a monster after drinking bodily fluids sprayed by an abyssal being. There is also Seonbin Lee who was hospitalized.
And judging from Thirteen's attitude of dismissing her love for the Orb as madness, it seems that the curtain call today when she learned that Vasilisa did not have the Orb caused her temporary confusion. JJ is a victim caught up in that confusion... … .
When I told Thirteen about my reasoning, Thirteen smiled and agreed.
"That's right, it's almost the same. But that doesn't mean JJ is an innocent victim. "That bastard has been so mean for a long time that she thought he would explode one day?"
At the same time, Thirteen laughed hahaha. He tried to continue the story by telling funny anecdotes about JJ, but there was something that bothered me more than that.
"But it happened like that about two months ago? "Is that accurate?"
"To be exact, since he came here."
Tudor came between Thirteen and me. It looks like the conversation with the curtain call has already ended. Thirteen naturally accepted Tudor's sudden intervention and spoke.
"Oh, right. "I think it was around that time."
"Of course it has nothing to do with you. "It's probably just a coincidence that the dates overlap."
Tudor said that, but he had a strange expression on his face. He was secretly looking at my mask with a serious expression that was rarely seen on a regular basis... … .
"It somehow sounds like you don't think it's just a coincidence?"
"No, I really think it was a coincidence. "But Collie isn't the only one who's been a little strange since the day he came here."
"Are there more people who have become strange?"
Tudor nodded slightly, but Thirteen seemed to have a slightly different opinion.
"That said, there aren't many cases like Collie. Moreover, this is like an occupational disease for us solvers, so it happens more often than you think."
That is correct. … … That's true, but it still bothers me. Isn't the game's setting constantly changing based on when I came to this world?
If a change that has occurred once continues to affect other things, and the affected things start to cause new events... … The knowledge gained through games may become useless.
For example, there are many reasons why I signed a contract with Tudor, but the most important thing is that Tudor is a 100% trustworthy broker who will never betray you through playing the game. But what if that information gets mixed up?
In this confusing world, I will be lost without knowing anything.
'No, this idea is completely meaningless.'
Didn't they decide to shake up the game's setting anyway? Regardless of whether Tudor betrays or the location of the known artifact changes, all that awaits me as I follow the flow of the game is a grand ending of destruction.
If there is a change, it is more important to investigate and confirm it. First, curtain call. And you might want to check out some of the other people you think have made a difference.
'Because this change itself could be a clue for me to escape this world.'
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