[119]
“For someone who claims that, you’ve been throwing money around at the gambling den…”
Yuri clicked his tongue as if to say, don’t you know?
“Wherever you go, you need money to infiltrate that group. I need customers.”
Yuri shrugged and added.
“If you win some, it might feel good for a while. But is that a sustainable income?”
“Looks like I’ve underestimated someone who’s going to make it big.”
Edgar, who let out an admiring sound, giggled and opened his mouth.
“If you’re that confident…”
The man scratched his chin. Edgar beckoned to Yuri.
When Yuri leaned forward slightly, the other’s hot breath mixed with the smell of alcohol.
Yuri, who managed not to frown, quietly listened to Edgar’s words.
“The loser’s bracket has the highest odds either when you lose miserably or win desperately. These two scenarios have the highest payouts.”
He deliberately showed interest.
“Is the payout higher for losing?”
“Haha. The payout is high either way. But it won’t be easy to break…”
From the glancing look, there was a nuance that he knew something.
“You speak as if there’s a way.”
Edgar lowered his voice and whispered.
“The guiding drug. Put it in what your player drinks.”
Yuri pretended to frown.
“Aren’t you just helping me for nothing?”
“Not at all.”
Edgar shook his head.
“It’s not real guiding, so the side effects are greater. Especially if overdosed, the body temporarily feels lighter and the mind clearer. But the more vigorously one moves, the faster the drug circulates… Bang!”
Edgar spread his hands and added.
“Then no matter how sharp the fangs or claws, they can’t be used.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Yuri replied in a somewhat cold tone and stood up.
“Well, see you when we deal again soon.”
***
Chris paused as he was moving.
It was because of a red-haired woman talking to someone on the opposite side of the corridor.
He frowned.
That woman, definitely in his memory.
She was the investigator sent by the city when Yuri infiltrated the abandoned factory district disguised as an illegal resident.
‘Abigail Chung?’
The image of her neatly dressed in a suit was vivid in his mind, so why was she in an illegal arena?
“Please. Abigail.”
The man frowned.
“Don’t come looking for me again.”
“But!”
“Your parents and you are all the same. I don’t want to see you again. Do you understand?”
Having only heard the latter part of the conversation, it was difficult to infer the situation. But from the circumstances, it was clear that one of the players on this floor was an acquaintance of Abigail.
“Obl!”
Obl?
Chris, who was quietly eavesdropping, recalled the owner of that name.
During the rookie hunt, he was the Esper who had pursued him until the end but gave up saying it wasn’t worth it.
He could be seen being pushed away by Abigail.
“I’ll leave today. But don’t think I’ll back down so easily next time.”
“You never get tired of saying that every time. Why? Do you still have something to use me for?”
Obl sneered.
Abigail, pretending not to hear, started walking away but discovered Chris and bit her lip.
She seemed embarrassed that a passerby had caught her in a scene she didn’t want others to see.
But Abigail passed by Chris without showing anything more.
Obl, who was leaning against the door of the player’s waiting room, raised his head at Chris’s presence.
“Who’s this? The rising star, Wolf, isn’t it?”
Obl muttered in a weakened voice. Looking closely, his hair was reddish-brown.
“I said we’d meet again. Lucky me.”
“Indeed. It seems you’re the lucky one.”
At Chris’s attitude of not yielding a single word, Obl waved his hand.
“I wish you’d leave. I’m not in the mood for conversation.”
“I know that woman.”
Chris nodded toward Abigail, who had disappeared to the opposite end of the corridor.
“She’s the mayor’s dog, right?”
Honestly, this kind of mockery wasn’t very familiar to him. But mimicking the guys who had talked about him, it sounded quite convincing.
“…You.”
Obl opened his mouth slightly, seemingly surprised.
“How do you know Abigail?”
“My acquaintance disappeared forever after meeting that woman.”
At those words, Obl tightly closed his mouth.
He neither defended nor refuted.
He seemed to know what Abigail did.
“I didn’t expect to run into her in a place like this… It seems you have a relationship with her?”
“It’s not unusual for people who pretend to live properly to frequent gambling dens or fighting arenas, so I don’t understand why you’re connecting her to me.”
But why mention parents?
“You seem to hate seeing that woman. Then, would it be okay if I got rid of her?”
Chris nodded. Obl shrugged as if to say do as you please.
“I don’t know why you’re asking me.”
“I’m checking to avoid making unnecessary enemies. Hmm, if I go after her now, I won’t be too late.”
Chris turned around. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Chris, who moved his body immediately, grabbed Obl’s wrist and completely twisted it.
Clank.
A jungle knife fell to the floor. But Obl didn’t stop just because he was caught once.
After escaping the restraint by kicking Chris’s knee, Obl, despite contorting his face in pain, immediately used invisibility.
“Ha.”
Chris, who deliberately burst into laughter, ran toward the opposite end of the corridor instead of looking around for Obl, whose location was unknown.
Behind Chris, there was the sound of glass breaking. And the fire alarm siren began to ring.
Blood dripped from midair, and then Obl revealed himself. He seemed to have injured himself by breaking the fire alarm cover with his bare hands without removing it first, in his haste.
“What’s going on?”
“Fire, fire!”
“Jenny, Catherine. Where are you?”
People ran out in panic. The corridor became crowded. It would be impossible for Chris to chase after Abigail now.
‘At least, handling it privately would be impossible now.’
That’s exactly what Obl must have aimed for. After turning invisible, when Chris was on guard for an attack, he sounded the alarm to block the way.
He was one step ahead of Chris, who was about to chase after Abigail instead of searching for the invisible Obl.
Amidst the evacuating people, only those two remained standing.
Chris moved his lips.
‘You’re not acquaintances, but you want to protect her enough to do this.’
Perhaps reading his lip movements, Obl turned around sharply and opened the door to his room.
Chris followed him, responding to a gaze that seemed almost like an invitation.
The interior was quite elaborately decorated.
Posters of Obl’s matches, various liquor bottles, studded accessories, and a leather jacket thrown carelessly.
The man sitting on the sofa took out a dagger, spun it once, and threw it at Chris.
The dagger passed by Chris, who didn’t budge an inch, and stuck into the closed door.
Glancing to check, there was a target hanging there.
‘A dartboard.’
Either due to practice with throwing weapons or simply personal taste, there were traces of various objects having been stuck and removed, apart from the dagger just thrown.
“So. You have a grudge against Abigail.”
“Apparently.”
“Your friend’s disappearance might not have much to do with Abigail.”
Obl attempted something like persuasion.
Chris stared at him blankly.
“My friend wasn’t the first person that woman took, nor was she the last.”
“Fuck. What’s wrong with some illegal residents disappearing?”
Obl, who spat out curses, nervously ruffled his hair.
It was closer to talking to himself than speaking to Chris.
Suddenly, Obl got up, walked over briskly, and dragged a guitar case that had been thrown next to the bed.
As Chris watched, wondering what he was trying to do, Obl pushed it toward him.
“Take this and forget about it.”
Obl, who bent down himself, flung open the guitar case.
For a moment, it felt as if the room had brightened.
The case was filled with gold bars reflecting light.
“Not credits…?”
“How can you trust that stuff? Who knows if a world that’s already collapsed once will collapse again?”
Obl snorted and added.
“I only believe in physical assets. And this… is money I’ve been saving to pay my ransom.”
“…Hmm.”
Chris was momentarily at a loss for words.
“Ransom?”
“Just as you belong to your master, I mean I’m the property of this Colosseum.”
This was unexpected.
He had heard there were players bound to the Colosseum, but it was surprising that Obl himself was one of them.
‘No. Actually, there have been fewer things that weren’t surprising since I came here.’
“Fucking Meredith. Fucking Ons.”
Obl gritted his teeth and muttered. He knew Meredith, but Ons was someone unfamiliar.
Judging from the context, he must be an official of the Colosseum like Meredith.
“With money… you want me to forget my friend?”
Chris, having regained his composure, asked while recalling the backstory he had just created.
“Why can’t you forget? In this world, you can sell even family for money.”
Obl, who picked up a gold bar, smiled showing his teeth.
“So forget about trivial matters like what that damn girl’s name is, where she works, who she took… things like that.”
When he closed the bag, the yellow light reflecting on his face disappeared.
After carefully zipping it up, Obl forcefully thrust the guitar case into Chris’s arms.
“And don’t think it’s over just because you took this. I’ll come after you to win back the money from the rookie hunt and the value of these gold bars.”
Chris, who let out a sigh, dropped the bag to the floor.
“What are you doing!”
Obl, who dived to catch the bag, exclaimed with a grimace.
With that many gold bars inside, the weight would certainly be substantial. However, the arms cradling the guitar case were as careful as if handling a newborn baby.
“Money won’t do.”
Chris pulled up one corner of his mouth, mimicking Yuri.
“That woman. She’s your family, isn’t she?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
