BCST 25

chapter 25

As I looked at her expectantly for an explanation, Mia poured a cocktail into her glass and spoke.

“Remember last time with the vampire case? You won that bet and said you’d get to do a job with Kin whenever you wanted.”

“That’s right.”

At my confirmation, Mia made a faintly amused expression and went on.

“But since you’ve been rising so fast, Kin started getting anxious. The guy who only used to drink suddenly said he couldn’t just sit back like this, so he went back to training again.”

Ah, so that’s what this was about.

Hearing that, I naturally raised my glass and took a sip of the Old Fashioned.

I had first run through the tutorial with him.

We’d gone through our first kill, our first real combat, attacked a gang, and even defeated a vampire together.

And somewhere in between, we’d made that bet—Kin owed me one mission of my choosing.

Currently, his Solver rank was Level 2.

But since I was casually handling Level 3 jobs, I guess he started worrying about the difficulty of missions down the line.

“Thanks to you, that lazy bastard’s been running around like his ass is on fire. He probably owes you a thank-you, Eddie.”

Mia chuckled as she said it.

Just then, a shadow fell across me, and a familiar voice rang out.

“What the hell, Handler! Why are you telling embarrassing stories like that?”

The man himself had shown up.

“Want a drink too?”

Even as Kin appeared, Mia calmly asked if he wanted a drink.

Back during his first commission, he had actually gotten so drunk he missed the client’s time limit. That’s how much he liked drinking.

But surprisingly, Kin shook his head.

“I’m on the wagon right now. My skills are finally starting to improve—I can’t afford to hit the brakes.”

There was some real fire in his words.

Not bad.

As I was thinking that, Kin sat down beside me, bit into a sausage, and asked,

“So what’s your deal? Why the sudden change? I was just starting to figure you out, and now you’re different again.”

At that, Mia also turned to me with a curious look.

“Yeah, last time I saw you, you looked sharp and dangerous. But now? If someone glanced at you, they might just mistake you for an ordinary guy.”

The two of them stared at me, waiting.

Changed, huh.

Was it just that I was hiding my aura?

Or had I really stepped up into the Third Tier?

Maybe both.

Either way, both of them had decent skills as active operatives.

What they really meant was: How did you grow this fast?

“Hmm…”

Meeting their heated stares, I thought carefully about what to say.

Of course, I wasn’t about to mention my Trait Window.

Leaving that aside—my calmer aura came from reading grimoires thoroughly, understanding them, and internalizing that knowledge.

As for my growth, it was because I constantly channeled mana whenever I had free time, experimenting and training in countless magical applications.

Even right now, I was adjusting my shields to match the creases in my clothes as they folded and stretched with my movements.

On top of that, I was busy dismantling the knowledge injected into me when I learned Counterspell.

And stepping into the Third Tier meant I had to re-check and fine-tune both my magic and my physical state.

All of that together could’ve been my answer.

But in the end, what I actually said was simple.

“It just kind of happened.”

Both Kin and Mia scowled like I was the most annoying bastard in the world.

“Damn, what an arrogant punk.”

“Seriously.”

So it wasn’t just the looks—they actually said it.

Not that it mattered.

Their questions weren’t born of a burning desire to learn anyway. They were just curiosity-driven.

Why should I bother rattling off all the reasons I’d gotten stronger?

For me, this level of progress wasn’t even something to boast about—it felt lacking.

Click.

As I quietly took another sip of my drink, the topic naturally shifted.

“Anyway, has anyone heard the news going around?” Kin asked.

“What news?”

Mia perked up, interested.

Information-gathering was her job, after all.

Tearing a bite off his hot dog, Kin spoke slowly.

“You know BD, right? Especially on the deep web, where a ton of illegal ones get made and distributed?”

BD—short for Brain Dive.

They’re recordings that directly transmit virtual sensations into your brain, letting you experience them as if they were real.

They’re not online, but rather single-use—one BD user experiences the record through the senses of a designated ‘player.’

In this fusionpunk age, they were one of the most common forms of media.

So naturally, Mia looked unimpressed.

“Kin, what are you talking about? Around here, we’re more familiar with XBDs than regular ones.”

Given the nature of our work, she’d probably seen way worse than anything ‘normal.’

Kin knew that too.

But he smirked confidently.

“Sure. But this case? You’ve definitely never heard of anything like it. It’s not like real-death BDs or sensory-overload BDs. This is on another level entirely.”

“Huh? So it’s not just some XBD?”

Kin shook his head slightly.

“Not at all.”

Now Mia’s interest was caught; her eyes gleamed.

“Go on.”

With a meaningful look, Kin continued.

“A scavenger I know told me—recently, people have been having weird experiences at a major BD archive over in District 58.”

“District 58… you mean Neurotheca 58? That place is a dump, but for that area, their welfare’s not bad. Why there?”

Mia’s response made Kin nod.

“Yeah, it’s a public library-type place. But since it’s District 58, people would screw around—like hiding snuff BDs or child porn BDs in the kids’ section.”

“Ugh…”

Mia grimaced.

But given District 58’s backward state compared to our own District 56, it sounded believable.

Anyway—Neurotheca 58, huh?

“Apparently, even the ‘Lost Records Archive’ there got messed with. A hacker supposedly forced one of the sealed BDs stored there to run.”

Kin leaned in slightly, lowering his tone.

“Normal methods couldn’t play it. So they connected it directly to a person, calibrating it through human neural signals.”

Mia’s face tensed.

“That’s… wait, no. Anyway, then what?”

Kin twirled the wrapper of his hot dog, then continued.

“The BD that got recovered wasn’t normal. Nobody can confirm exactly what it contained, but after that, strange phenomena kept happening at the archive. People even died.”

Then, in a lighter tone, he shrugged it off.

“Well, you know how it is—there are always BD ghost stories floating around. Nothing worth thinking too deeply about.”

“True enough.”

Mia nodded, sipping her cocktail.

They clearly both dismissed it as just another urban legend.

Which made sense—our office was a magnet for rumors. Dozens of them floated in and out every single day.

Normally, I’d have brushed it off too.

But—

“Eddie?”

Mia suddenly looked at me, puzzled.

“…Something about this bothering you?”

Bothering me, huh.

The mention of Neurotheca 58 did make me pause.

Because in the timeline of the game I knew, that place was nothing but ruins—a restricted collapse zone.

And on top of that, it had been tied to certain rare, crucial items.

“Yeah, it’s definitely interesting.”

If my guess was right, this wasn’t just some rumor.

This could very well be tied to a U.M.O. (Unidentified Mysterious Object).

U.M.O.s were indistinguishable from magic artifacts to most people.

But in truth, they weren’t just artifacts—they were special items from another world with unique properties.

In this fusionpunk setting, whenever some bizarre, overpowered artifact appeared, nine times out of ten, it turned out to be a U.M.O.

In the game, they only appeared randomly, so you could never actively hunt them down.

But if information like this came my way? That was different.

Besides, I didn’t need to care about my family’s watchful eyes as much anymore.

The potential value of a U.M.O. was worth the risk.

“Didn’t think you’d care about something like this, Eddie.” Mia’s voice was curious.

I shook my head.

“No. But if you come across any more info, can you send it my way?”

“Sure. But I’ll be charging info fees.”

Fair enough.

I nodded, and Mia smiled in satisfaction.

“Hey, Wizard. Don’t tell me you’re actually gonna head to District 58?”

Kin was staring at me like I’d grown a second head.

“Why?”

“Well, it’s not like there’s money in it. I already told you—it’s just hearsay. What’s there to gain by going?”

From his perspective, that was fair.

But for me, there was a very clear reason.

Ping!

[Sub-Quest – The Sealed BD of Neurotheca 58]

Strange events have begun after a sealed BD was restored at Neurotheca 58, a BD archive in District 58.

Investigate the cause and eliminate the danger.

Reward: Ability Points +20

Accept? Y/N

With that on my screen, the matter was settled.

This wasn’t just a rumor. It was real.

And 20 points, no less…

I turned to Kin.

“Why don’t you come along? You seemed stressed about that bet we made last time.”

“Ha!”

He snorted.

“What, just to poke around and ask questions? I’m not wasting my bet on something like this. Call me when you actually need me, Wizard. I’ve got my pride.”

Not wasting it, huh?

This was a 20-point quest.

The difficulty rating alone was way beyond anything I’d tackled before.

Having reliable backup would’ve been smart.

But since he’d brought up his pride, I couldn’t push.

Instead—

[Quest Accepted: The Sealed BD of Neurotheca 58]

I’d just do it alone.

Because for me, this could be an easy win.