Chapter 20 : First Mission – 1

CLOSED

The sign on the bar door.
Six people scattered haphazardly in the quiet bar hall.
Time for the briefing for tomorrow’s mission.

“Check the basics in the data yourselves.”

Simultaneously, brief mission data distributed to everyone.
I took mine, calmly reading through.

“The client is Wave.”

Wave.

The name alone startled me—a colossal entity.
Officially ranked second in the corporate hierarchy.
Meaning—Neotopia’s second largest company.

For reference, Ikazuchi is first.

“Oh.
It’s been a while since they hired us.”

“They’ve got their own team—what’s up with this?”

“Surfer’s supposedly in Old City now.”

“Old City?
Why that backwater place?”

Old City.
An unfamiliar name, vaguely recalled.
Mentioned briefly in the original novel as a city in North America’s eastern region.

“Your ears deaf or what?
Old City’s the hottest corporate battleground now.
They’re fighting fiercely there.”

“Enough useless chatter—back to the point.”

Lycan steered the sidetracked talk, explaining detailed mission objectives.

“The target is Baeksan’s project data.
Seems they’re developing a new product, and Wave wants to know first.”

“Why bother digging into that?
Wave guys are paranoid freaks.”

“Maybe because their businesses overlap?”

Baeksan ranks around tenth in the corporate hierarchy.
A solid major company, but compared to Wave, it’s adult versus child in scale.

Still, as Mary noted, both focus on military businesses as their core.

In other words, Wave worries Baeksan’s new item might affect them, so they want to find out what it is.

“No need to care about the details.
We just execute the job perfectly—that’s enough.”

“Got it, but hurry up.
Nothing pisses me off more than interruptions while drinking… hic!”

Chugging booze even now—what’s interrupting him?

“Tomorrow morning, we raid Baeksan’s research lab.
The infiltration route’s already designed by Wave’s hacker—we just follow it.”

“A lab raid?
Sounds big.”

“Nah.
Tomorrow, Baeksan’ll be distracted by a hack on their headquarters.
Neutralize the lab’s guards, get out—no issues.”

Karen grinned, pleased.

“This is why we only take big corporate jobs.
Their mindset’s different.
Damn small-time bastards think mercs handle everything, then pay peanuts!”

“Calm down, Karen.”

Even at Spade’s relaxed tone, Karen kept fuming.

“Now, we’ll pick tomorrow’s team.
It’s not a tough mission, so choose freely.
Note: trainees have no choice—you’re in.”

“I’m out.
Gonna drink… heh.”

“I’ll pass too.
I’m not much help in the field anyway.”

Franklin and Mary, non-combat roles, opted out without hesitation.

“I’m in.
Someone blew my fortune, so I got no shopping money.”

“…Ahem.”

Karen confirmed participation, leaving one person.
Spade, fiddling with cards, pondered briefly before answering.

“I’ll go too.”

“What?
You lose everything gambling too?”

“Partly, but it feels like it’ll be fun.”

No clue what he meant, but his cryptic smile felt unsettling.

“Settled then.
This mission’s me, Karen, Spade, and the big brat—four total.
As always, pay’s split fairly by contribution.
Any objections?”

Seeing everyone nod, Lycan looked at me, adding.

“I’ll advance you 100 million based on tomorrow’s performance.
Not free, so don’t expect it.
I get your situation, but if you underperform, no money.
Clear?”

“Yup.
I just need to shine, right?”

“Good answer.
Now, let’s dive into the full strategy.”

The briefing dragged on.

I wondered if Mary and Franklin skipped to avoid this.
Still, this thorough planning must be why they’re top-tier mercs.

Pressure to avoid mistakes kept me focused, leaving me exhausted by the end.

“Briefing’s done.
Go rest.
We leave early tomorrow—be ready.”

At the dismissal, I shuffled back to my room.
Late night, Ruby surely asleep, I slipped into bed quietly.

“Phew…”

Tomorrow’s the real start.
Yet, it didn’t feel real.

I never imagined my life changing this drastically.

Then again, compared to a month ago, maybe it’s not that special.
Meeting Ruby that day still burns as an unfading mark in my mind.

It’ll be fine.
Like always, I’ll complete the mission safely, return here, and lie in bed.

Then tomorrow, and the next day, will keep coming.

“Mmm… Sis…”

Ruby mumbled in her sleep, snuggling closer.
Smiling, I hugged her back.

Carefully stroking her back, fearing I’d wake her, I felt her warmth.

Soon, sleep crept in, and I closed my eyes.

Worried I’d stay awake from mission nerves, but thankfully, no need for that.

“Sleep well, rookie disciple?”

“Yup.”

“Oh?
Thought you’d be shaking sleepless all night.”

I’ve got a super warm, cute dakimakura.
No way I’m sharing—mine forever.

“Hey, don’t hide behind me today if you panic.
I don’t take cowardly disciples, so I might be disappointed.”

“Then you, Master, watch your cigarette so it doesn’t set off the fire alarm.”

As Karen teased with a playful smirk, she glanced behind me and suddenly stammered awkwardly.

“Oh, haha!
Right!
Haven’t finished maintenance!
Gotta go back!”

“Master…?”

Before I could stop her, she bolted.
Wondering what happened, a whisper tickled my ear.

“Lapis, good morning!”

“Eek!!”

Shrieking at the unexpected ambush, chills ran down my spine.
Turning, I saw Mary smiling, greeting me.

“Today’s your first real mission, right?”

“Uh, yeah…”

“Wish I’d joined.
Bit regretful, but I’ll cheer from here!”

“T-Thanks.”

“Speaking of, take this.”

Mary, blushing like handing a love letter, gave me something.
Taking it, a piece of paper fluttered, clashing with the world’s aesthetic.

“…A talisman?”

“You know it!
Ancient Eastern charms infused with mystical power for luck.
I made it myself.”

“Uh… right.”

A doctor in a cyberpunk world handing me a homemade talisman.
Unsure how to react, I figured it’s better than nothing, smiling awkwardly and thanking her.

“Thanks.
Must’ve worked hard on this.”

“Hehe… For Lapis, it’s worth it.”

Twisting her body, cheeks flushed, she looked like a girl in first love.

Honestly, if I were a guy, I might’ve swooned a bit.
No, wait—then Mary wouldn’t be this open anyway.

She’s a lesbian only into women.

Thinking that, my heart calmed instantly.
Maybe because I still don’t fully see myself as a woman?

Anyway, I need to prepare calmly for the mission, so I sent Mary off and stared at the talisman.

Still, I’m grateful.
Even if ulterior motives lurk, she made this out of care for me.

Her heart’s kind, I guess.
Troublesome, but hard to hate.

…Wait.
Why did Karen freak out and flee seeing Mary?

Is there something between them I don’t know?

Instantly, my mind spun a wild, dangerous fantasy.

A rough red-haired woman and a gentle green-haired woman.
Gazing tenderly at each other, slowly closing the distance, until finally…

“Eek!!”

“Heh, sorry to interrupt your good time, but Lycan’s calling.
Better go… hic!”

Franklin appeared silently, nearly scaring me to death.
But thanks to him, the vivid images in my head vanished—maybe a blessing.

“Thanks!”

Thanking him, I headed to the counter.
It was time.