After the commotion that had erupted in a bar in the slums, the old man who appeared to own the place was doing his best to settle the ominous atmosphere. In the process, he even shouted at his customers.
“Hey, you bastards! You smashed every damn table in here! Fix them before you keep drinking!”
“Come on, old man. After everything you went through, you should be grateful it ended without anything worse happening.”
“Did you bastards end it?! You were cowering there, drooling all over yourselves!”
Considering that they had paid for their drinks, the customers might have felt as though they had paid money only to be cursed at, but surprisingly, no one protested much.
Evan watched the scene intently as he sipped from his glass.
While he did, Stella approached him hesitantly. When Evan turned and their eyes met, she gave him an awkward smile.
“I do not think I have seen you around here before. What brings you to this neighborhood?”
“To make money.”
“What? Money? Here?”
Stella looked at Evan and laughed.
It could have sounded mocking, but in truth, the sheer absurdity of what he had said had drawn the laugh from her.
“In Asle? It is hard to find anything here besides trash. It would be rather unfortunate if you came here without knowing that.”
Evan knew that as well.
He had played this game more than anyone else.
After he completed the entire game, the 「Black Mage」 class had suddenly appeared.
Choosing that class, one he had never seen before, had been what caused him to be sucked into this damned cyberpunk game.
A considerable amount of time had passed since he entered this world. He could no longer deny this life, yet neither could he fully accept it.
Evan reflected on the state of society in this world.
An extreme divide between social classes. People who willingly chose drugs and debauchery for the sake of pleasure.
A collapsed social structure and human dignity that continued to plunge without end.
‘What a goddamn mess.’
Spending the rest of his life in a place like this was unthinkable.
If he wanted to escape, the game’s ultimate objective, Yender’s Amulet, was his only hope.
Yender’s Amulet was an artifact that contained the greatest power in this world.
『Grants every wish of its owner.』
Whether it was a throne, wealth, or even eternal life.
No one now knew the whereabouts of that legendary artifact, and in this city where people had given up thinking, it was regarded as nothing more than a type of urban legend.
‘But Yender’s Amulet exists.’
Evan could be certain of that.
He had been a hardcore player who had seen every ending with every character class, without exception.
An item that granted every wish.
‘Then it should be able to grant mine too.’
While Evan organized his thoughts, the old man who appeared to own the pub looked troubled as he stared at the fallen mage and corporate man.
“This is worrying. We have put out the immediate fire, but…… the corporation will not sit still once it learns what happened to these men.”
“Shall I check?”
Evan walked over to the suited man and searched the inside pocket of his jacket.
He pocketed some money while he was at it…….
Soon, he found a card made from a small display.
【Citizen Registration Card】
Name: Paul P. Kinder
Citizen Registration Number: 9246-1842997
Citizen Grade: C
《Approved by Floor City Hall》
“Grade C, huh.”
It was not a losing ticket, but it was hardly the jackpot either.
If he had to put it…… it was about a fourth-prize ticket.
In fact, Grade C made him roughly a fourth-class citizen.
“……He acted so high and mighty.”
The bastard was not even a third-class citizen.
“You do not have to worry about anyone coming here and turning the place upside down.”
“Why do you think so?”
Evan glanced at the badge attached to the corporate man’s jacket, then held up the citizen ID as he answered.
“He belonged to Vertex Corporation, and an ordinary employee there is nothing but an expendable resource. He made himself sound important by calling himself an acting representative, but his real purpose was probably just a site survey. In truth, they likely treated him like some rat bastard tossed into a minefield.”
“A rat bastard?”
Evan looked at the hulking man lying on the floor.
His illegally modified mechanical arm was still clattering. The blade attached to its end gleamed with a chilling light.
When that man charged at him, the corporate employee would have been crippled if the mage had not been there—or, if he was lucky, killed.
“The corporation must have known that Asle was a bowl of rice laced with razor blades. No matter how tempting it looked, they would have been afraid to dig in carelessly.”
“……I see. Then what about the mage?”
“Who cares whether trash like a mage lives or dies?”
When Evan said that and stood up, the old man looked flustered.
He could neither agree nor argue with a situation in which one mage called another mage trash. Of course, he could not deny it either.
The old man stared at Evan for a moment before his eyes began to gleam.
It was the look of someone who had been rummaging through a pile of garbage and found a pearl he had never expected to see.
“……It has been a long time since I have seen someone like you in Asle.”
“Are there really so few useful people here?”
Evan indifferently returned to his seat and picked up his glass.
The old man watched him and grinned.
“Two-legged bastards naturally get more particular as they grow older. I know perfectly well that there is no one in Asle who could learn that much from a single citizen ID. Someone meddlesome enough to willingly help with a matter that is none of his business is an especially rare breed.”
Evan had merely known that the event called “Corporate Employee Dispatched to Asle” always occurred.
He had only been aiming for the possibility that the dispatched employee would possess a rare item.
That was why Evan had traveled all the way to Asle.
As for helping Stella and the old man…… he had simply been exhausted from his journey and irritated by an unwanted disturbance.
‘But the lottery ticket I scratched turned out to be a dud.’
Evan brought up a holographic display in midair.
【To Do: Find the Corporate Representative】
【Note: Around this time, a fixed event occurs in which a corporate representative visits Aslan. There may be something to gain.】
After letting out a faint sigh, he pressed the confirm button.
【Completed】
Unaware that Evan was muttering “shitty game” to himself, the old man merely examined every inch of his detached and mysteriously profound demeanor.
Evan rested his chin on the bar and turned the fourth-prize ID back and forth before suddenly having an idea.
“……There may still be something left to gain.”
“Something to gain?”
“Hey, old man. What is your name?”
“Call me Tumble.”
“Tumble, is there a hotel nearby reserved for corporate personnel?”
The old man nodded.
“Do you need a place to stay? There is a hotel.”
The old man scratched his chin with a troubled expression.
“I am not sure I should say this to someone who has traveled such a long way, but…….”
Evan quietly waited for him to continue.
“Those hotels are strictly reserved for corporate personnel from the city.”
“Is the security tight?”
“You cannot even dream of entering without at least a citizen ID. To begin with, they are notorious for not even bothering to question anyone whose clothes look too shabby. They simply beat them or open fire.”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm.”
“I heard that not long ago, a security guard shot a begging child without warning. Pieces of trash…….”
Only then did the old man notice Evan getting to his feet.
“If you truly need a place to stay, you could stay here. It is noisy, but it would be better than sleeping in an alley.”
“I have an idea.”
There was no stopping someone who had already decided what he was going to do.
“If you insist, it is not my place to stop you, so I will say no more, but…….”
“Um, I am sorry to interrupt.”
When they turned their heads, Stella pointed at the unwanted visitors.
The mage and the corporate suit, whom she had moved to one side while cleaning up the place, lay sprawled on the floor.
“These two. Um, they are still alive, you know?”
The corporate man and the mage were unconscious, their eyes vacant, but they were certainly not dead.
Evan knew that as well.
“What should we do when they wake up?”
“They will not wake up.”
“What?”
“Just dump them somewhere suitable.”
As Evan spoke, he raised his hand and looked at it.
Two faint blue flames flickered like candles above two of his fingertips.
Looking closely, screaming faces could be seen within them.
The energy and memories a being had carried in life.
Souls.
One belonged to the mage, and the other belonged to the suited man.
As Evan was about to leave, a voice called out behind him.
“Excuse me!”
At the energetic voice, Evan turned around again.
Stella bowed deeply. Her vividly dyed red hair fluttered up and down.
“Thank you!”
Evan watched her for a moment, gave a slight nod, and left the pub.
The old man stared at his retreating back and muttered.
“Huh. Is he truly going to that hotel? What could he possibly be planning?”
Stella approached the old man while staring at the door Evan had left through.
“……Is he planning to transform or something? Gramps, can mages transform too?”
“Of course not. Even if he truly could disguise himself, it would be completely useless against city security.”
Stella turned and stared at the door Evan had passed through.
“A mage…….”
***
Evan slipped into a deserted alley, avoiding the eyes of others.
A homeless person lay sprawled on the ground nearby.
He studied that vacant face for a moment, then raised his palm.
The two souls he had just collected rose from two of his fingertips.
He selected one of the souls in his mind.
It was the soul of the blond corporate man, Paul P. Kinder.
FWOOSH—
The flame of the soul grew larger.
Evan closed his eyes.
He tore apart the essence of the soul and reassembled it. Screams rang in his ears, but he paid them no attention.
He recalled the three principles of black magic.
Read the soul.
Possess it.
Offer it as the sacrifice for a ritual.
‘Sacrificial Rite.’
『Soulcraft·Stitch , Phantom Spirit Incarnation』
The screaming soul vanished as though it had been ripped apart.
Through a shard of broken glass hanging from the wall, Evan looked at his reflection.
A blond man in a perfectly tailored suit, with an obnoxious-looking face.
Paul P. Kinder’s blue eyes met the homeless person’s gaze.
Evan looked into those haggard, vacant eyes, gave a slight smile, and stepped back out onto the street.