Chapter 59
The Luddite gang member striding toward me had a face that resembled a rat, not just any rat, but the visage of an incredibly fierce and foul-tempered field mouse.
Slanted eyes, a broad forehead.
Grease slicked the skin around a scar that ran across his face, and his chin sprouted a rough, unkempt beard like weeds.
The bastard thrust his tanned face forward, coming so close that we were almost touching, and stared right through me.
My fingertips grew Cold. Our eyes met.
Despite his small stature forcing him to look up at me from a lower Position, his momentum didn't die down in the slightest.
The creepy gaze unique to a human who had spilled a lot of blood bore down on me. His upward breath brushed against my chin, and I Flinched without realizing it.
"So you're the hand Butcher..."
He tossed the words out with a swagger, as if bringing up something trivial.
"You've never killed a person, have you? I can tell just by looking at your eyes."
"..."
"You might fool the others, but you can't fool my eyes. You don't seem like someone from this side of the tracks to begin with. Why did you Step up?"
Well, if I didn't stop you, it was obvious you'd cause some massive incident involving that Young Lady.
If that happened, the bar would be ruined, and I might Get Fired for not doing my Work Handling properly.
I also owed Dragon President in various ways. I had to do what I could.
It was my own sense of professional calling, though I doubted those terrorist bastards would understand.
Forcing down my surging inner thoughts, I spoke.
"Customer, please return to your seat for now. I know there was something that offended both parties, but how about we Resolve this through conversation?"
"Conversation is great. But does that woman have any intention of conversing? If the Young Lady politely apologizes to us, then we'll back off."
"..."
"Honestly, they wronged us first, didn't they? Hmm? They spoke so damn disrespectfully the first time we met.
But if we have to just go back without hearing a single word of apology, wouldn't that be a bit unfair?"
He wasn't entirely wrong.
If you stripped away class, wealth, and status, and looked at it purely as a human-to-human relationship, Alexandra was a hundred percent in the wrong.
The problem was that human relationships couldn't be established without those external factors like wealth and power in the first place.
In a society where Wealth is Class, there was a clear gap between the Young Lady of a Noble Chaebol Family and a Bottom-Tier Factory Worker that anyone could see.
A gap so vast that one wouldn't dare curse her rudeness or demand an apology.
Ignoring that background and blindly demanding she apologize first before they backed off... just meant they wanted a fight.
Common sense dictated that there was no way that arrogant Young Lady would apologize. They should have been thankful she was willing to just let it go.
If this Young Lady had provoked those bastards earlier, this time the Luddite gang bastards were provoking her in return.
And she fell right for it.
Did Alexandra think they weren't even worth talking to?
Was she too lazy to get up from her seat again, or was she trying to keep her promise not to fight... Fortunately, she stayed still this time.
Instead, her attendants, the brute bodyguards wearing sunglasses, stepped forward.
The Young Lady they served had just been called disrespectful by some bottom-feeder. If they stayed still after that, they'd have to turn in their bodyguard badges.
"What did you just say?"
The way they shouted and approached in their Straining suits made it feel as if a living iron wall was moving.
As expected of trained bodyguards of a rich person, their momentum was no joke.
The problem was that even with bodyguards two heads taller than him bearing down so menacingly, the Luddite at the front showed not a single Change in Expression.
He looked as if he had Something to Rely On.
For a moment, a corner of my chest went Cold.
Was that really just blind bravado?
Would a member of the Luddite gang, who had painted the entire Detroit District in fear, be unable to distinguish the situation to that extent?
No way. The Luddite gang and Dead Cell were hostile factions I frequently encountered in the game.
I had played the Extermination Mission given as a Sub-Quest quite often, and the difficulty was always high.
The madness of charging in without any Fear of Death played a part, but above all, those bastards were intelligent enemies.
It was to the point where my anger would naturally flare up at how an NPC could act so smartly to screw over the Player.
It wasn't for nothing that they were a terrorist gang with a DCPD Red Notice Order, stubbornly surviving despite being in a Position no different from a Public Enemy of the City.
There was definitely something. They wouldn't have provoked them for nothing.
If I left it like this, an incident would definitely break out.
I had to stop the two sides from clashing.
Wedging myself between them, I stretched my arms out to both sides and spoke.
"Customers, please stop. It will be troublesome if you continue like this."
"hand Butcher, you'd better Step aside. Those bastards made a huge mistake. Just leaving this Alone will tarnish the Young Lady's honor."
The bodyguards spoke as they bluntly shoved me.
I was helplessly pushed back... then popped right back into place like a roly-poly toy. My chest stung a bit.
"..."
This was somehow pissing me off. Playing the mediator was truly a miserable job.
If I had my way, I'd just Leave them to fight amongst themselves. The problem was that I couldn't.
Feeling as if my head was burning up, I spat in a fit of anger.
"I said stop, fuck. Honestly, it's a fact that your Young Lady acted a bit disrespectfully.
Honor my ass, she already smeared her own reputation the moment she carelessly picked a fight with others."
"...What?"
Bloodshot eyes glared at me as if to Pierce through the sunglasses.
I Flinched, feeling like they would shoot lasers at any moment, but I didn't stop and continued speaking.
This time, toward the Luddite side.
"And you... fierce-looking folks over there, stop it now too. You've expressed your dissatisfaction enough.
She's clearly someone with a lot of money and power, so do you really have to mess with her? Do you want to see the police show up and everything get smashed to pieces? Huh? Are you that blind?"
A brief silence flowed.
The bodyguards stood stiffly, looking back at my outburst.
Exchanging glances with Alexandra, they seemed to be asking what to do with me.
They probably wanted to grab me by the collar and beat me with their fists, but since I was a samurai Candidate the Young Lady had her eye on, they couldn't touch me until permission was granted.
And the Luddite gang members...
The small, rat-faced man standing in front of those bastards was laughing.
As if my appearance looked incredibly ridiculous, he cracked up, making a wheezing sound like someone furiously squeezing a spray bottle with only a little water left.
After laughing his head off until he was out of breath, he suddenly put on a straight face and spoke.
"I wonder why."
"..."
"Why are you trying so hard to stop the fight? Are you always like this? No, that can't be it.
There's no way a bar Manager would actively Intervene in the affairs of Rich People to this extent. There must be a reason you keep stepping in. What could it be?"
He said, licking his lips with his tongue.
"Shall we be a bit honest with each other? You know who we are, don't you?
That's why you're stopping us, right? Because you're afraid we'll cause an incident. There's no other explanation."
"...I don't know what you're talking about. How would I know who you customers are?"
These Crazy... intelligently Crazy terrorist bastards. They were terrifyingly quick on the uptake.
I thought he was an unusual person, but I realized he was seeing right through me.
But I couldn't let it show on the Outside. He might just be poking around on a hunch.
Therefore, I spoke as Calmly as possible, maintaining a flat expression, with a flat voice.
At my lukewarm reaction, the Luddite bastard tilted his head. He looked as if he was saying, “Huh, guess not?” As expected, he was just poking around.
"I think I'm right... You were observing us closely earlier. I thought you saw something then."
"What do you keep saying I saw? Do you have a delusional disorder? You don't exactly look like there's much to see."
Even though I deliberately used strongly provocative words to shake off his suspicion, he didn't look angry at all.
Instead, he just kept stroking his rough beard as if he found it Interesting.
As for me, goosebumps had completely covered the back of my neck.
They say if you gaze long into the Abyss, the Abyss also gazes into you.
I had forgotten that if I could Observe them, they could also Observe me.
While I was keeping an eye on the Hammer Tattoo hidden under their collars, that Luddite Boss also noticed that I was examining them.
This was a fact I realized every time.
This place wasn't a game but a real, existing World, and they weren't mere NPCs but threatening, clever real people.
Swoosh—.
Suddenly, the small Luddite Boss leaned his body toward me. Brushing past my side with a twisted head, he whispered into my ear.
"No matter how I look at it, I think you do know."
"What on earth are you talking about—"
"To introduce myself, for reference, my name is Ned Ludd. Have you heard of me?"
Ned Ludd.
The name 'Luddite' attached to the Machine Destruction Movement that occurred in 19th century England came from Ned Ludd.
The figure believed to be fictional is known to have led the Luddite Movement.
Whenever the machines in the Factory broke down for unknown reasons, the workers made the excuse, “Ned Ludd did it,” and
even after forming a Secret Society, they reportedly answered questions asking for their Leader with, “It is General Ned Ludd.”
And now, hundreds of years later, in the 22nd century of Dusk City.
There was only one Group of people who dared to go around using the title “Ned Ludd”.
The Luddite High Command exists. The terrorist leaders are leading the gang.
I didn't know which of the only three General Ned Ludds the man in front of me was.
The important thing was that he wasn't just some ordinary gang member.
So much meaning was contained in the single name Ned Ludd.
Should I call this the Curse of Knowledge?
There weren't many people who knew about this name, but unfortunately, I was one of them.
Seeing my pupils momentarily dilate and grow larger, Ned Ludd pulled up the corners of his mouth and whispered.
"You did know, after all. My intuition is never wrong."
"..."
"Shall I make a proposal?"
The bastard spoke in a sweet voice.
"Pretend you don't know anything and run away Just like this. Then I'll let you live. I've Taken a liking to you.
You're the first person to do such good acting in front of me. You're too talented a person to just live and die as a mere Bar Employee. Wow, you didn't get that nickname for nothing, did you?"
"..."
"If you happen to be interested in what we do, you're always Welcome, so come find us in Detroit. I'll treat you well. Hmm? Got it?"
Now I was even getting a Recruitment Offer from a terrorist gang.
This is driving me Crazy, seriously.