Chapter 6
At the heart of Downtown stood a massive commercial complex.
It was known as Junk Plaza.
The sight of chicken-coop-like buildings with floor area ratios exceeding 1,000 percent, packed tightly together in every direction without a single gap, was enough to make anyone feel suffocated.
Along the shadowy streets, deprived of any right to sunlight, neon signs of every imaginable color replaced the sun and cast their sinister glow. Combined with the perpetually hazy weather caused by environmental pollution, it was always difficult to distinguish day from night in Junk Plaza.
There was a reason the Downtown skyline had reminded Jin of Kowloon Walled City.
The den of vice that had disappeared from Hong Kong in 1993 had been recreated here.
Only flashier.
And far more chaotic.
“Hey there, handsome.”
Jin turned his head at the seductive voice.
In an alley untouched by sunlight, a woman sat atop a green dumpster and smiled enticingly.
“Hi. Want to spend some time with me? I’ll give you a discount.”
She curled one hand into a circle and lightly tapped it against her lips, pressing her tongue against the inside of her cheek in time with the motion.
Jin was not unaware of what she meant.
But he shook his head.
“I don’t have any money.”
“I said I’d make it cheap. With a face like yours, it probably wouldn’t even feel like work for me.”
“My dick doesn’t get hard either.”
“...What? Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Jin gave the speechless woman a thumbs-up and turned away.
Sadly, none of what he had said was a lie.
His pockets were completely empty, and his dick genuinely did not work.
Not when he had lived in Korea, of course.
It had started immediately after he fell into the game world.
At first, he had assumed it was merely psychological. But when nothing changed even after time passed, his suspicions gradually turned toward none other than Irregular.
It was the trait that had saved Jin’s life countless times.
Trying to recall its now-fuzzy description, he remembered something about autophagy, maximizing energy efficiency, and evolution.
Based on that, Jin had formed his own theory that the energy required for reproductive functions was being redirected elsewhere.
Toward recovery, muscle enhancement, or something along those lines.
Considering that his strength had steadily increased over the past year despite no major change in his overall skeletal muscle mass, it was practically certain.
Human muscles, regardless of age or sex, could produce only around four kilograms-force per square centimeter of cross-sectional area.
But Jin’s monstrous strength had surpassed such common sense long ago.
And he had grown even stronger after recently unlocking the Superhuman Perk.
Wait a second.
Even after becoming superhuman, my reproductive ability still hasn’t recovered?
Jin stroked his chin with a rather serious expression.
Of course, given his personality, he did not dwell on the issue for long.
It’ll work itself out somehow.
There are still plenty of constellations I haven’t activated.
Who knows? Maybe one of them contains a solution.
There were indeed a great many unlit constellations within Jin.
The problem was that he did not know their unlock conditions.
Considering that the [Rapid Recovery] perk he had selected at the beginning of the game was the first star in the fist-shaped constellation, he could at least tell that he needed to unlock the most fundamental perks before progressing to the next ones.
For now, however, he had no way of knowing what those perks were.
Had I known this would happen, I would’ve read the guides more carefully.
Not that regretting it now would accomplish anything.
“...By the way, where am I?”
Jin stopped walking and looked around.
[Junk Plaza, Complex 4, Section A]
Judging by the sign hanging overhead, he had reached the place the hot dog vendor had described.
But the street was so disorderly that his brain had simply stopped functioning.
Every road looked identical.
Every alley looked like every other alley.
Whoa.
Hold on.
I’m getting dizzy.
As Jin blinked, seemingly stunned all on his own, a dull impact struck his back.
An irritated voice followed.
“Ah, seriously...”
Jin turned his head.
A man stood where his gaze landed.
He had sharp, blade-like eyes and wore an oni mask that concealed the lower half of his face.
He was nearly as tall as Jin, and at his waist was...
Hmm.
A sword?
It was not some palm-sized knife carried by back-alley delinquents planning to shank someone.
Even though it hung diagonally, it was a longsword whose tip nearly reached the ground.
Its appearance resembled a hwando or katana, but its length was closer to that of a two-handed sword.
Jin thought that Admiral Yi Sun-sin’s Twin Dragon Swords, which had supposedly been missing for a century, might have looked exactly like that.
How does he even draw something that long?
The blade looks longer than his arm’s range of motion.
While Jin was thinking that, the man spoke again.
“Why the hell did you suddenly stop?”
Jin scratched the back of his head.
The man’s tone was irritating, but it was true that Jin had stopped without warning.
“Sorry about that. I’m not familiar with this neighborhood.”
“Move.”
The man rammed his shoulder into Jin’s and walked past him.
Then he stumbled.
After steadying the shoulder that had bounced away, he slowly turned back around.
His gaze was murderous.
Jin did not look away either.
What are you glaring at, weakling?
Why’d you try a shoulder check you couldn’t win?
The staring contest between the two did not last very long.
A noisy crowd passed between them, cutting across their line of sight.
And by the time the people had moved on, the man was gone as well.
“...What the hell?”
The tension drained from Jin as he relaxed the fist he had unconsciously clenched.
Then again, that sword hanging from the guy’s waist had probably not been some decorative ornament he could not even draw.
Other people might have been intimidated, but that kind of thing did not work on him.
Jin let out a scoff and looked around once more.
Only to become disoriented again.
“No, seriously... where the hell is this place?”
After wandering in circles through what felt like the same streets at least ten times...
Jin finally found the place the hot dog vendor had told him about.
It was like searching for a hidden restaurant inside a crowded marketplace.
What should have been a one- or two-minute walk without obstacles was tangled with countless side alleys and street stalls like a ball of yarn.
For most people, it would have been a simple matter of opening a navigation app.
In an era where entering an address automatically projected the shortest route directly into one's field of vision, getting lost was practically impossible.
But that assumption fell apart for Jin, who had no BCI chip.
After asking one unfriendly passerby after another for directions, he finally arrived in front of a bar and narrowed his eyes at the sign.
[Anecdote]
Anecdote.
This was the right place.
Jin immediately pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The cheerful jingle of the entrance bell welcomed him.
At the same time, a young bartender polishing a glass behind the long counter turned his head.
“Welcome. Please, have a seat.”
Returning the bartender's greeting, Jin surveyed the interior.
Round stools without backrests were spaced comfortably along a wooden counter.
Wall lamps and footlights illuminated the establishment with just enough light to create a relaxed atmosphere.
The overall mood was so calm that it hardly felt like Downtown at all.
Having been hopelessly lost in what felt like the middle of a bustling market only moments ago, Jin experienced a strange sense of cognitive dissonance.
Still, he quickly composed himself and sat down.
Then he looked at the bartender, who had silently been watching him.
“You the Linker?”
The bartender blinked.
Then he smiled faintly.
“Are you a Solo?”
“Uh... I think so? I've completed a commission before.”
“Your name?”
Your name?
The polite manner of speaking made Jin's skin crawl a little.
He instinctively scratched inside his ear before answering.
“Jin.”
“Understood. Jin. Please wait a moment.”
With that, the bartender suddenly became motionless.
It lasted only a brief moment, but although his eyes remained fixed on Jin, they seemed to drift somewhere entirely different.
Finally, his focus returned.
“My apologies. I searched the Solo Intranet but found no matching record. Are you perhaps a Level 5 Solo or higher? If so, ordinary searches are restricted. If that is the case, please forgive my discourtesy.”
Jin scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“I don't think I have anything like that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I came here because I want to become a real Solo. I don't have any certification or badge or whatever. Didn't even know something like that existed.”
“Ah. I understand.”
The bartender nodded surprisingly easily.
Just then...
Voices drifted over from somewhere nearby.
“So, how's Sector 49?”
“Terrible. Ever since Taha unified all the clans, it's practically become a tiny dictatorship.”
“Taha... He always was an ambitious man. You should be careful.”
“Careful? He's just another corporate lapdog.”
“I wonder if you'd still say that to Taha's face.”
A man and a woman emerged from behind the central shelf lined with liquor bottles.
Jin's brow twitched.
Not because of the woman with her stunning cascade of crimson hair.
But because of the man walking beside her.
Sharp eyes.
An oni mask covering the lower half of his face.
And an absurdly long sword.
He was the same man who had shoulder-checked Jin earlier on the street.
“...Hmm?”
The man noticed Jin as well.
Displeasure settled visibly into the eyes above his mask.
The woman beside him naturally turned to look too.
“Oh? We have a customer.”
“This is Mr. Jin,” the bartender explained. “He says he'd like to become a Solo. I believe he's here hoping to sign a contract.”
The woman raised one eyebrow.
“Really?”
She lengthened her stride and approached until she stood opposite Jin.
With each click of her heels, a smoky yet sweet fragrance drifted toward him.
“So... you're Jin.”
“You came because you want to become a Solo?”
Jin had been in the middle of Round Two of his staring contest with the masked man.
He reluctantly tore his eyes away.
“Want something to drink first?”
“I don't have any money.”
His answer made the woman chuckle.
Whether she thought he was joking or simply intended to treat him, she turned toward the shelves and picked up a bottle.
Should I ask for a cola?
Jin briefly considered it.
In the end, he simply accepted the glass she handed him.
It felt wrong to complain about free drinks.
“Let's properly introduce ourselves first. I'm Khalifa. As you can see, I'm the manager of Anecdote.”
“Jin.”
“The future King of Solos.”
Pirate King.
Mercenary King.
Knight King.
Having grown up consuming endless pop culture full of every imaginable "King," Jin casually attached "King" to "Solo" to express his ambition.
Technically, "Solo King" would have sounded more natural.
But who cared?
By that logic, people might as well call loot "get-items" and bad controls "foot controls."
Apparently, his confidence amused Khalifa.
“...King of Solos?”
She rolled the unfamiliar phrase around in her mouth before suddenly throwing her head back and laughing.
Despite her slender frame, her laughter was surprisingly hearty.
If anything, it was pleasant to hear.
“You're interesting. I like you. Honestly, I'm tempted to bring out a contract right now.”
“But, Jin...”
“Having a good sense of humor isn't enough to become a Solo.”
“More precisely, it isn't enough to sign a contract with me.”
“Anecdote doesn't work with just anyone.”
For an instant, Jin caught sight of a crimson glow flickering within Khalifa's pupils.
Artificial eyes?
No...
If that were the case, they certainly didn't look alive.
Yet those red lights seemed to writhe as though they possessed life of their own.
“To evaluate your abilities, let's start with a few simple commissions—”
“That's unnecessary.”
The voice that interrupted Khalifa belonged to the masked man.
Ever since spotting Jin again, he had stood there as motionless as a statue.
Now, as though he had been waiting for exactly this opportunity, he stepped in without hesitation.
“There's no need to take the long way around.”
“Just fight me.”
“There's something I want to confirm about that bastard anyway.”