Chapter 10
Early evening.
Jin crossed Junk Plaza with a large bundle slung over his shoulder.
After turning through alleys that had now become fairly familiar, he arrived at the bar, where dim light spilled through the windows.
When he opened the door and stepped inside, Pow turned his head.
“Ah, Jin.”
“Hey.”
There was already a customer inside.
He was a skinny man seated in a corner, sipping liquor from a glass filled with ice. Jin could not tell whether the man was merely a customer or a solo taking a break.
He only guessed that the man was probably a solo, seeing as he showed no particular reaction to the bloodstained bundle.
“Is this a bad place for it?”
At Jin’s question, Pow gave a faint smile and gestured to him.
“Follow me.”
Pow led him to a spacious room located behind the central shelves.
It was filled with devices and tools Jin had never seen before. Perhaps because there was so much metal equipment, the room reeked of the sort of smell that might come from an old swing set or a bundle of keys.
“You can put it down here.”
Pow gestured toward a broad table in the middle of the room, and Jin lowered the heavy sack onto it.
Pow immediately untied the sealed cord and checked the contents before slowly speaking.
“This is indeed Edmund Nielsen. Did you transport him with the data chip still inserted?”
“Oh, no.”
Jin shook his head and pulled the red chip from inside his clothes.
“Here.”
Pow naturally accepted the data chip and ran his thumb across the flame emblem engraved into its surface.
“Would you mind waiting a moment?”
Pow then turned and walked over to a large computer with three monitors. Twisted cables hung from it in every direction like tentacles.
He inserted the chip into an external port and silently watched as multiple program windows appeared on the screens, each densely packed with symbols resembling hieroglyphs.
To Jin, it looked like some three-headed monster was visually vomiting incomprehensible gibberish.
His eyes began to ache just from looking at it, so he started glancing around the room for no particular reason.
A moment later, Pow nodded.
“It is indeed one of the leaked data chips.”
“It is? That’s a relief.”
“However...”
Just as Pow was about to add something, the closed door behind them opened.
“You’re back? That was quick.”
The clicking of high heels approached.
A smoky yet sweet fragrance brushed past Jin’s nose.
Khalifa came to stand beside him and looked him over.
“Your face is a mess.”
“It was hot. Nearly turned me into barbecue.”
“Oh dear. You had a rough time.”
Khalifa smiled softly, then naturally shifted her gaze toward the sack.
“Why did you carry this heavy thing all the way here? We only needed the data chip.”
“Well—”
Jin began speaking while resisting the urge to scratch his blistered, itching face.
“When I removed the chip, his eyes suddenly rolled back and he attacked me like a complete lunatic. I’m not certain, but he seemed stronger too, and no matter how much I hit him, he didn’t look like he felt any pain. Anyway, it seemed strange.”
“...Is that so?”
Khalifa narrowed her eyes.
Then she turned her head.
“Pow?”
“It’s malware. Judging by its logic, it is a rampage virus commonly known as Berserk. It was cleverly concealed as a hidden process, so the user would never have anticipated it. My guess is that it was designed to activate either after a certain amount of time had passed or when the chip was forcibly removed.”
Jin blinked.
Berserk? Berserker? I know plenty about those.
Blood Explosion, Guts, green-rank Tekken, and Berserk Servant...
Heracles, probably. It was sad when Gilgamesh chained him up and killed him...
While Jin’s train of thought continued drifting aimlessly, Khalifa swept her hair back.
“Berserk... Would you wait here for a moment?”
After asking Jin’s permission, she left the room.
There had apparently been some unforeseen complication, but Jin was not particularly interested.
His part of the job was already finished.
With only the two of them left in the room again, Pow asked,
“How was your first request?”
“I don’t know. It was manageable... I think? Hard to say. It was just whatever. I didn’t die, so that’s good enough.”
At Jin’s answer, Pow removed the data chip from the port, placed it inside a resealable plastic bag, and spoke.
“Did you know that the solo world has something called the Three Filters?”
“...Filters?”
“Yes. The term refers to a solo’s first three consecutive requests, as well as the overwhelming dropout rate among rookies during that period.”
Pow pressed the plastic bag firmly shut, then placed it inside a document envelope.
He continued in his usual calm voice.
“Only around seven percent make it through all three filters. Barely that many survive. And those who do are finally acknowledged.”
Seven percent.
Even looking only at the percentage, it was closer to the top grade than the second-highest grade.
In school, scoring that well would already earn someone praise for being an excellent student. For solos who fought with their lives on the line, it was all the more impressive.
As Jin once again reflected on just how brutal this line of work was, Pow spoke.
“Congratulations, Jin. You have passed the first filter.”
Then a quest window appeared.
[The Three Filters]
Three requests. Three filters.
The conditions required to become a true solo.
- Progress: 1/3
- Refusing a request will result in failure
- Reward: 10,000 Perk XP
- Unlocks an (Unknown) Story
What the hell is this now?
A story? Unknown? Who are you trying to mess with?
Jin wore the most annoyed expression imaginable—put politely, an extremely sour one—as he stared at the words visible only to him.
Pow tilted his head.
“If something I said offended you—”
“No, no. It’s nothing. My stomach just suddenly feels a little off. Thanks for the congratulations.”
Jin forced a smile and waved his hand as though shooing away flies.
I’ve already seen it, so disappear already.
Just then, Khalifa entered the room.
“Here’s your payment.”
Jin accepted the thick envelope she held out and couldn't help admiring its weight.
“Two million...”
“It’s three million credits.”
“Huh?”
Jin flinched in surprise, but in the next instant the envelope had already disappeared into his jacket.
The sheer speed of it made Khalifa laugh.
“The extra million is a bonus. You handled the job cleanly despite an unexpected situation like Berserk. Keep working like this.”
A bonus?
Jin narrowed his eyes, still bewildered.
He might know almost nothing about this world, but back in his own, he had graduated from college, found a respectable job, and learned firsthand just how difficult it was to earn someone else's money.
He wasn't naïve enough to take Khalifa's explanation at face value.
A broker only handed out extra money when there was a reason.
The fact that she hadn't simply kept quiet and pretended nothing had happened was an unspoken gesture that she wouldn't sacrifice trust over one million credits.
She's not stingy, at least.
In Jin's mind, Khalifa's opinion rating rose by about half a level.
“I’m off.”
Having finished his business, Jin said his farewell and turned to leave.
Then he suddenly stopped and looked back.
“By the way... could you recommend a good gun shop?”
The unexpected question made Khalifa stroke her chin.
“A gun shop? Hmm...”
After a brief moment of thought, she answered.
“There’s one called Good Neighbor in Junk Plaza District 2. An old man named Brof runs it, but the merchandise is reliable. If you're interested, I'll send you the exact address.”
“I'd appreciate that.”
“It's no trouble.”
Khalifa sent the message on the spot.
Feeling the old terminal inside his jacket vibrate with a soft buzz, Jin tapped his chest to show he'd received it before turning to leave.
Then—
He stopped again.
“Oh, right.”
Khalifa looked at him as though wondering what it was this time.
Jin scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I've got one more question.”
***
After Jin left, Pow overturned the bundle and laid the corpse that had once been Edmund Nielsen onto the table.
His face had been crushed from both front and back.
His side was covered in dark bruises.
Even his skin was streaked with ruptured blood vessels.
After carefully examining not only the visible wounds but also the abnormalities hidden beneath the surface, Pow spoke.
“The mana circuits clearly show signs of having gone berserk. There's no doubt the Berserk program activated.”
Leaning against the wall, Khalifa asked,
“Can you recover anything? BH or otherwise?”
“Most of the data has been permanently destroyed by Berserk, but I'll try nonetheless.”
As Pow answered calmly, Khalifa quietly stared into Nielsen's blackened eyes.
“What would have happened if he hadn't been stopped?”
“He would have turned the surrounding area into a wasteland.”
“Yeah... probably. An indiscriminate terrorist wielding a Family's magic... I wonder if whoever leaked this wanted to throw the entire city into chaos.”
Khalifa folded her arms and murmured quietly.
“Maybe the Side Magicians have returned.”
“Should we notify Solard's broker?”
“They probably already know. They're not fools.”
“Understood. Then I'll simply deliver the data chip.”
“By the way, Pow.”
“Yes?”
“What do you think of Jin?”
The topic shifted naturally.
Pow, who had been examining Nielsen's cyberbrain socket, looked up.
“He's exceptional. He wiped out Steel Hands on his own, gained the upper hand over Fenrir in close combat, and even subdued a magician after Berserk had activated. An impressive newcomer.”
“When you list it all together, he really is extraordinary.”
Khalifa nodded.
She was one of Downtown's well-known linkers and had worked alongside countless solos.
But someone like Jin...
He was a first.
As part of the routine background investigation any linker would conduct, she had reviewed security footage from the nightclub.
The images remained vivid in her mind.
Jin had massacred an entire gang by himself.
Taking punches.
Rolling across the floor.
Getting stabbed.
He fought with a style that completely burned through his own body, the kind where it wouldn't have been surprising if he died at any moment.
Even today, he had shown up covered in burns across his body, with a clear bullet wound through his shoulder.
Despite being in urgent need of treatment, he had come straight to Anecdote first.
Yet he hadn't bothered hiding the pain either.
Everything about him struck Khalifa as refreshingly unusual.
Judging solely by his physical abilities, she could have believed he was an enhanced human secretly created by some biotech conglomerate.
Yet the way he acted...
It was as though a few screws were permanently loose.
“He's definitely interesting.”
After Khalifa's quiet remark, Pow spoke again.
“By the way... what was that final question he asked?”
“What do you mean?”
“He asked whether someone could learn and use any spell as long as they had mana circuits implanted.”
Khalifa recalled Jin's face as he had left Anecdote.
More specifically...
The look of someone agonizing over an important decision.
“Who knows? After experiencing a Family's secret magic firsthand, maybe he developed an interest in learning magic.”
“Do you think he's considering the implantation procedure?”
“Well...”
Khalifa shrugged.
Mana circuit implantation.
It wasn't something she would recommend.
Especially if someone wanted to die of old age.
Mana pathways carved into the body without genuine enlightenment drastically shortened one's lifespan.
Receiving the procedure carelessly was practically asking for an early grave.
But what choice did people have?
Pure, natural mana circuits weren't something anyone could obtain simply because they wanted them.
***
Somewhere in Downtown.
In a dark, filthy alley where drug addicts sat frozen in grotesque poses and shabby homeless people warmed themselves around fires burning inside rusted oil drums—
Beyond the narrow passage stood an old unmanned motel.
For 6,000 credits, you could rent a room for eight hours.
A tiny, run-down room barely thirteen square meters in size.
Inside the mold-infested room with its grimy wallpaper—
A brilliant light suddenly burst forth.
A perfectly pure, soft blue radiance.
At its center—
Jin suddenly snapped his eyes open.
You have learned!
Mana Circuit.