I Became a Cyberpunk Tycoon

Playing with Fire (8)

None of us spoke up, but the commotion showed no signs of stopping.

"Don't let them escape! Keep shooting!"

"I'm sure I hit them, but they seem unaffected..."

"Doesn't anyone have a laser? Try to hit them!"

"They must have some kind of implant! The trajectory keeps deviating!"

"Shoot straight! Try to hit them!"

"It's not like I can do it just because I want to!"

Surprisingly, some pursuers had come prepared with plasma weapons and laser weapons.

But such weapons don't rely on iron sights and individual aiming skills to reach their targets. They're equipped with advanced targeting modules that automatically recognize and fire at targets.

The fact that such systems were needed for aiming meant that they could be distorted or exploited.

"Defense pattern. How much longer do you think you can hold out?"

I, being the one with some composure, spoke up. Luna and Ravina seemed overwhelmed just trying to shoot down the enemies in front of them, so the secretary and I had to assess the situation.

"The enemy doesn't have any capable hackers. We should be fine for about 20 minutes."

The secretary, who was providing covering fire from the rear while protecting us, shouted confidently.

"Should we split up?"

"...Is that safe?"

"This should be enough to draw attention. Now the mercenary group will try to chase after me."

Although the pursuers showed surprisingly systematic movements, they couldn't be perfect.

Among the mercenaries blocking the front and pursuing from behind, not many would know who the real members of the Doris mercenary group were.

They might know that it consists of three women, but there were probably people who came along thinking, 'If we follow the other mercenaries, we'll find the target.' without knowing their exact descriptions.

It was a strategy I had used several times when I was a player, and when there was no other way to get information, nothing was more convenient than that.

Since the secretary had made herself sufficiently visible, there was a good chance they would chase after her if we split up.

But I couldn't immediately agree.

Someone needs to carry Doris and run. If we split up carelessly, dangerous things could happen.

But we couldn't keep running like this either.

The vanguard was getting tired. Since I couldn't shoot while holding Doris, breaking through the front had to be left entirely to Luna and Ravina.

Everyone was tired, and originally this kind of breakthrough was Doris's job.

As our speed slowed, our position would be discovered, and the burden on the secretary would increase.

"There should be a narrow passage coming up soon. I'll hold them off there."

"...Be careful."

She had no reason to go this far for me. I still didn't know her true intentions.

"A-are you seriously going to leave your woman behind like this?"

Ravina shouted in shock, but Luna painfully covered her mouth.

"We're in more danger. Don't say unnecessary things."

Doris, cradled in my arms, shook her head slightly with half-opened eyes.

"This is enough. Just leave me behind. I can... move on my own..."

"No. After going through all this trouble, I can't let it end in vain."

I slightly adjusted her position to hold her with my left arm, then took out a handgun from my pocket and shot down the enemies blocking our way.

"It might be uncomfortable, but bear with it."

To hold her body with one hand, I had to press her body against mine.

Thankfully, since I was tall enough, her feet didn't drag on the ground.

Doris's chest was pressed against my body. In a more romantic situation, it might have been considered quite interesting.

"I'm going ahead. You know I can't do anything without you? You need to follow right after."

"Understood, young master."

As we continued forward, we realized what she meant by the 'passage'.

It was a huge bridge. There was enough space for both people and cars to pass through easily.

Still, as long as my secretary held this position, not many people would be able to cross it.

"Take care!"

The Doris mercenary group and I continued forward, leaving the secretary behind.

"For now... it seems we've lost them. Should we disperse here?"

Ravina, catching her breath, roughly pulled out the bullets embedded in her body.

"It's too dangerous, at least for today. We don't know what might happen even if we make it home."

It wouldn't be strange if Han Sanwoo had vacation homes scattered throughout the city.

But I didn't have the luxury to take out my phone and slowly search through the list. Most of the data was with Suhwa, and without her, I was practically a primitive man.

It might be better to find a place to hide and wait. If we could reunite with Suhwa, she might be able to find a place for them to hide.

"There don't seem to be any pursuers. That..."

Doris, pressed against my body, carefully blushed.

"Thank you. But why..."

"I told you I'd explain the circumstances later. Slowly, by phone... Hm? It seems like something else is coming?"

We heard quite a few footsteps. The sound seemed too regular for mercenaries but lacking in weight.

"There are people waiting here? It would take at least a few minutes, no, tens of minutes, to come around this bridge?"

"Right?"

I couldn't be certain either. While my senses were sharp, they could only be imprecise about what those sensations meant.

They were just footsteps. There was no guarantee they belonged to mercenaries, and there was a good chance they could just be gang members moving in groups nearby.

But when their presence appeared before us, we all lost our words.

"...So here you are? Shamefully clinging to the Prince of Hansan."

A woman wearing a strange hat appeared, leading a group.

They seemed too poorly equipped to be a gang. Even gangs these days usually had at least one decent implant.

"Prince of... what?"

I desperately tried to hide my bewilderment while continuing to speak naturally.

It mustn't be revealed that I am Han Sanwoo. But it was puzzling how such low-level organization members could have such intelligence capabilities.

"Isn't this what you wanted? We spread it. This secret being revealed to the world. Isn't that what you wanted!"

Doris, cradled in my arms, seemed familiar with the woman surrounding us and spoke up boldly despite her exhausted state.

"...No. Although your actions were unexpected, in the end, it was Hansan who revealed it, right?"

Only then could I realize that the organization before me was Brown Hood.

"What does that matter? Hansan scattered the information we sent them without any alterations. Even information that could harm themselves."

Luna tried to defend me, but their attitude was stern.

"Probably manageable damage. Information sufficient enough to eat away at other companies' pie and for Hansan to fill those empty spaces."

They weren't people we could reason with. Their anger towards corporations was by no means light.

"We jumped in thinking you were betrayed... Well, it looks like there's some internal strife in Hansan. Seeing how one employee is running around carrying you."

That was fortunate. I had been quite worried when I heard 'Prince of Hansan,' but it seemed they hadn't yet realized that I was 'Han Sanwoo.'

"So, what are you going to do? We have nothing. Whatever trouble you cause here, there's nothing to gain."

"What if I just want to kill you all?"

"No matter how tired we are... if you try to kill us here, we can take about ten of you with us."

The atmosphere turned ominous.

Almost none of the Brown Hood members wore combat implants. That's why they appeared as the weakest faction even until the late game.

If you formed a friendly relationship with them, they were 'incompetent allies' being swept away like autumn leaves from somewhere every day, and if you formed a hostile relationship, they were just 'minor monsters' that were slightly annoying.

But that woman is wearing the strange hat. With Brown Hood's leader appearing, things wouldn't be so easy.

'That's... Brown Hood's leader.'

In my memory, most of her face was mangled and damaged, but so far she seemed fine.

"Even if most of us die, there's something to gain."

"We're just mercenaries! And Hansan hasn't done anything wrong right now! Even though it sucks, at least they honestly revealed the information we sent."

"That's the problem."

Anger burned in the leader's eyes.

"After killing so many people, after creating so many victims."

Brown Hood's leader briefly surveyed her companions spread around her.

None of them had intact limbs. That alone wouldn't be much different anywhere, but they didn't even have proper implants.

They used crude wooden crutches like pirates or wore hooks on their hands.

Even if someone had a mechanical arm, it wasn't sophisticated or important enough to truly replace an arm.

It was a crude and simple machine that forcibly moved the arm using the remaining right arm muscles.

"Now you speak as if you want to reconcile; it's disgusting."

Brown Hood, from an absolute perspective, wasn't a very large organization.

They have enough people to surround us right now, and they do have branches throughout the city.

But the limitations of an organization without vested interests were clear. Whatever it is, the most conventional thing is always the strongest.

Just as corporations decided that 'to succeed in society, following corporate rules and joining a corporation is the most efficient method,' causing capable people to join corporations.

Just as gangs decided that 'to survive in this lawless world, following gang rules and joining a gang is the wisest choice,' causing numerous vagrants to join gangs.

Brown Hood's rules were too strict for ordinary people, and they had no carrots to offer to those who joined the organization.

They had to be weak. But conversely, that created their unique strength.

"Everyone here is prepared to die."

"Ha, then bring it on! We'll resist until the end!"

"Indeed."

Brown Hood's leader raised her left hand. Then, she turned her palm toward the ground.

"What are you... huh?"

A massive electromagnetic wave erupted.

Primitive, barbaric, inconsiderate of anyone's harm, simply destructive. A destructive electromagnetic wave.

Though invisible to their eyes, I could see countless nano-robots spreading across this ground.

"T-this... my eyes! My legs!"

Ravina collapsed first. Doris, who had been in my arms, leaned against my arm, limp and without any sign of speaking.

Luna also sat down with round eyes.

"Those who sell their bodies to corporations to survive... not even worth talking to."

Brown Hood's secret weapon, the electronic disruption bomb.

Simple and violent. It doesn't distinguish between friend and foe, and it's difficult to counter, at least through technical means.

It was a monstrous weapon that stopped the operation of numerous mechanical devices, including implants inside the body.

The reason corporations don't use this was simple. Because it's too strong, destructive, and violent.

In modern times where many people depend on implants, using such a weapon was extremely barbaric.

It rarely appeared even in wars between corporations. Like a nuclear weapon, people (with implants) couldn't live in an area where this bomb was dropped for several days.

And she used that weapon without hesitation.

The reason she could do so was brutally simple. None of them had implants that would be paralyzed by such disruption devices.

It was a weapon befitting Brown Hood, momentarily turning the world back to primitive times.

I carefully put Doris down.

-------

Read more chapters @https://darkstartranslations.com/series/i-became-a-cyberpunk-tycoon