BCST 07

chapter 07

I came face-to-face with Mia Dunrivy, the owner of the troubleshooter agency Edge Line.

To join the agency, I had to earn her approval.

Reward – 6 Ability Points, a small amount of Mia Dunrivy’s trust

Failure – Decrease in trust from Mia Dunrivy and Kin Next.

“Impressive that you recognized me. Did you know who I was?”

“Of course.”

Even if she looked young, she was the head of a troubleshooter agency.

Even if she didn’t take the spotlight, those in the know would know her.

If I had completely failed to recognize her, it might have been a bad start.

“Oh, but your skills are good, just as Kin said. Especially knowing how to use that tricky spatial magic—bonus 100 points!”

Mia adjusted her outfit as she spoke.

She matched her illustrated appearance, but somehow looked slightly younger…

Then I noticed a thin red line on her neck.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Mia followed my gaze and brushed a finger along her neck.

A faint trace of blood.

Seeing it, Mia burst into laughter.

“Ahaha. Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’m technically half cyborg.”

A lie.

Mia Dunrivy, like me, was still 100% human.

Still, that effortless lie made me relax.

She looked just as I remembered her.

After wandering around this world, it finally felt like returning to a familiar home.

“You want to join our agency, right? Follow me. I’ll introduce you.”

Following Mia, we reached her office.

Bang! Bang!

We ran into a gang of thugs along the way, but thanks to her gun, only a few bodies were added to the alley.

“Ta-da! This is Edge Line. Normally, Mia’s Nest operates right from here!”

At the entrance, two heavily augmented guards stood watch. Above, a neon sign read Mia’s Nest Bar.

As Mia approached, the guards stepped aside without hesitation.

Their eyes scanned me sharply from head to toe.

“Come on, everyone’s waiting inside!”

Mia led me forward, and their gaze finally fell away.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Inside, a heavy bass hit my ears. Bright lights reflected off the pale walls and ceiling.

In tall glass cylinders, holographic strippers danced alone.

Nearby, people wore BD devices on their eyes, lounged on sofas, or consumed electronic drugs while drinking.

“You can hang out here, but workers can go further in.”

Past another guarded area, the scent changed noticeably.

The sharp smell of tobacco and alcohol.

Oil and faint gunpowder.

And if I focused, I could even detect a hint of blood.

I quietly murmured my thoughts.

“Definitely a troubleshooter agency.”

“Right?”

From the moment we entered, all eyes were on me.

Red optical lenses, expressionless chrome faces, cyborgs whose modifications were impossible to tell.

Everyone’s gaze was sharp and unwavering.

None of the faces I recognized appeared yet.

“Is it that guy?”

“He came with a handler? Already special treatment?”

“He looks pretty strong.”

Interestingly, the gazes weren’t just wary—they included jealousy and even friendly looks.

In this line of work, attention is important, so it wasn’t bad…

Mia pointed to one side.

“That’s the bar counter. You can receive requests there.”

Following her, I soon understood why all those eyes had been on me.

“Oh… wow… a mage! What’s up?!”

Kin.

He was completely drunk.

“You’re that mage, right? The one who helped capture a vampire with him?”

A bald man sitting beside Kin spoke.

“Technically, it was a picky vampire. Not like ordinary ones.”

Ordinary vampires’ strength is on another level.

He laughed at my comment.

“Of course! Catching a hatchling is basically dragon slaying! Kin bragged so much. He even told the vampire hunter story and got a drink from everyone here!”

Kin really was popular.

While I marveled at Kin’s social skills, Mia turned to the collapsed Kin and the man.

“Go have a drink. I need to talk with the newcomer.”

“Ruthless. Got it.”

Mia made a fist, and the man obediently lifted Kin aside.

Inside, there were many people, but at the bar counter, only Mia and I remained.

She naturally stepped inside and spoke.

“Want something to drink? I’ll make it myself as a special service.”

“No, I’m fine. But don’t you look young to run an agency?”

Mia smiled.

“Believe it or not, I’ve actually lived for decades.”

“Really?”

Another lie.

This little liar.

Sure, keeping a youthful appearance is possible if you have skills, but she was clearly young.

“Ah, Mia?”

From the kitchen, someone carried a box of soda water.

A boy about Mia’s age, dressed neatly like a school uniform.

But his mechanical face made it clear he was an android.

Thud.

He set the heavy box down lightly and spoke in a pleasantly familiar voice despite his blank expression.

“You must be the mage Mia was curious about?”

Android Sean.

Finally, another familiar face appeared.

Sean spoke calmly.

“Very few people pique Mia’s curiosity this much. Mage Eddie, since we’re a newly established agency, I hope this will be a good relationship for growth.”

“Sean! You don’t need to say that already!”

Mia said something, but Sean ignored her and extended his hand.

Cold mechanical fingers, joints visible.

“Right. Nice to meet you.”

I shook his hand.

“So, how long since you opened?”

“Now in our second year. We kept a low profile until now, but this year, we can expand properly.”

Sean glanced at Mia briefly.

I felt subtly shocked.

Second year already?

That meant the timeline here was one year earlier than I originally knew.

In the game, this agency was in its third year and somewhat established in the city.

No wonder.

Now the discrepancies made sense.

Kin seemed weaker than expected.

Mia looked younger and brighter than expected.

The agency’s atmosphere wasn’t as dark as in the game.

I had mistaken it as simply a difference in reality, but it was just earlier by a year.

While I was sorting this in my head, Mia spoke.

“Eddie, you want to join our agency, right?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Hmm. Okay.”

Mia tapped the table lightly.

Tap. Tap.

A mini holographic projector displayed a thin man.

His head was covered with dreadlock-like cables, and his basic muscles were all cybernetic implants.

His hands were grotesquely spider-like, with fingertips appearing to be ports or transmitters, electric currents running through them.

Before I could read more, Mia spoke first.

“Yabok Boikov. Currently wanted by Aminov Corporation. He’s also your entrance exam target.”

I glanced at Mia, and she smiled.

“He stole sensitive corporate data. The company will handle retrieving it; we just need to secure the rookie. No killing.”

Hmm…

I thought this level of difficulty was strange.

I knew him as one of the Cyber Psychos from the main game.

Most Cyber Psychos have outstanding combat skills.

Assigning him as a trial target seemed absurdly difficult.

I voiced my disbelief.

“…You want me to face a Cyber Psycho from the start?”

“Hmm?”

Mia tilted her head and then laughed.

“Ahaha! You know his reputation? He supposedly has sensory receptors in all ten fingers. Planning to connect to a computer, maybe?”

I remembered the crazy homeless guy from before the tutorial, but quickly dismissed it.

Damn. I didn’t want to remember that.

Mia laughed until tears came.

“Haha! Cyber Psycho… Still, he’s not fully a Cyber Psycho yet. We knew him well enough.”

Sure enough.

Because the timeline was a year earlier, things were different.

He wasn’t a Cyber Psycho yet.

Mia wiped her tears with a tissue.

I couldn’t understand why she found it so funny.

Sean, who had been watching her, finally spoke.

“He’s not a Cyber Psycho yet, but even excluding his hacking, his combat skill is high. If I were to compare to someone you know…”

Sean glanced at Kin, stretched out on another table.

“Rated at a Level 2 troubleshooter like Kin. But he has a special ability that made the company contract us for this job.”

“What is it?”

Sean blinked his mechanical eyes.

“Stealth. His concealment ability far exceeds his combat ability. Finding him will be the hardest part.”

Ah, that’s manageable.

Some differences due to the one-year shift, but still useful information.

I nodded slowly.

“No problem. Should I depart now?”

“Good.”

After all, six ability points were at stake. Not doing it wasn’t an option.

Plus, trust from handler Mia and some money.

No reason not to. No reason to delay.

Better to move immediately.

Ziiiiiing…

After Eddie left, Mia and Sean watched the closed door.

“Think he can do it?”

Mia wiped her tears.

Sean responded negatively.

“Probably not. A hacker avoiding Aminov for a month. Not just fighting, but finding the target itself would be too much.”

Mia nodded, agreeing, and took out a chilled cocktail glass.

“To even catch a trace, he’d have to dive into the deep web Yabok occasionally frequents. He seems completely uninterested in that. Likely the opposite.”

Sean turned to Mia.

“Was that intentional?”

Was it a mission designed for likely failure, to humble the rookie or establish agency hierarchy?

Mia poured martini into a glass.

“Did you know martinis used to be stirred, not shaken? Shaking was unusual back then.”

“Is that so?”

Now shaking martinis is standard practice everywhere.

“Yet someone dared to shake it, finding a new flavor. According to Kin, Eddie has enough strength, right?”

Mia placed an olive in the glass and smiled.

“And who knows? Maybe he’ll succeed spectacularly.”

Sean asked, “Then what happens?”

“Then this martini becomes a new symbol—of our agency.”

“Drink.”

Sean took the glass.

A clean, slightly citrusy hue.

He looked at it silently, then spoke.

“You can make it sound fancy, but honestly, it’s a stretch, right?”

“Ahaha. Caught me?”

Mia laughed awkwardly.

Sean didn’t look away.

“If he brings Yabok’s subordinates, approve him. We’re still short-staffed, you know.”

“Hmm~ Exactly. Honestly, just managing that would be enough.”

Right?

Yes.

They exchanged a look and ended the conversation.

For a rookie who hadn’t officially proven themselves, this level of attention was sufficient.

There was still plenty to do here.